I Smell Just Fine!
by PaigeRhiann
Summary: Derek sighed again, "There's something Stiles needs to understand" he said "It's a known fact that Werewolves are very possessive. That's why Lydia and Allison haven't been targeted because they smell like their mates – like pack" Stiles' eyebrows furrowed "Why don't I smell like pack" he was clearly offended. "It's quite hard to smell like pack when you're not a wolf or sleeping
1. Chapter 1

So when Stiles first got involved with a Werewolf pack; it kind of came without saying that he'd probably be in constant danger, he'd need a lot of explaining done to him because he didn't have their enhanced senses and although annoying, he accepted all their weird wolf-habits (like the growling, the roaring and the fact they rip each other apart with their teeth and then act like best friends five minutes later) because that's what a good friend does.

But Stiles officially drew the line at cuddling. Because nine people huddling together in a big pile on a sofa, bed or even the floor was just plain weird. And that was exactly how Stiles found himself in the middle of the sofa, surrounded by the pack as they watched Disney films... he let out a sigh because three weeks ago, he would not have ever found himself in this situation.

**Three weeks earlier**

It was lunchtime on a Tuesday morning and they were all sat at their table in the Cafeteria when every Werewolf froze and their entire bodies tensed; Stiles was about to question it when the doors burst open and in walked Derek Hale. He didn't seem to care that every pair of eyes were watching him as he stalked across the room and slammed his hands down on their table, causing it to shake.

Stiles couldn't help but roll his eyes because only Derek would make a scene that big in a public place.

Derek bent down slightly to glare at each of them before his eyes flashed red for a second and he growled quietly. "We have a problem" he frowned deeply and his claws scratched the table, his body trembling with rage.

"What?" Isaac blinked

Derek's eyes shot around, looking suspiciously at every single person in the room before turning his attention back to them. "Outside,"

They all stood immediately, and walked quickly out of the Cafeteria, following the Alpha to the car park, they stopped beside Stiles' Jeep and they huddled close, looking at him expectantly.

"I was doing my daily rounds and I smelt something weird. So I followed it and it lead to Stiles' house." He looked pointedly at him "It was the Alpha Pack... They'd been in his room, and they put their mark above his bed... in blood"

There was a heavy silence as their eyes all flicked to the teen and then back to the floor. Their faces were all grave and depressed, like that apparently meant something which Stiles didn't get.

"Okay, am I missing here?" he asked quietly

Again, there was a heavy silence until Isaac sighed and Danny patted him on the back. "Yes, you're missing something big and very, very bad" Isaac answered.

"Care to explain?" Stiles frowned

Their gazes now all went to Derek, staring at him intently until his shoulders sagged and he rubbed a hand down his face.

"It means, you moron, the Alpha pack have targeted you. They've picked you out as the weak link... and unless we do something about it... they're going to kill you" his voice was bland and

"Well, that sucks. You are going to do something... right?" Stiles asked, looking worried "You guys aren't going to let me die, right?"

Erika hit him around the head, "Of course we're not going to let you die" she snapped "but what are we going to do"

Derek sighed again, "There's something Stiles needs to understand" he said "It's a known fact that Werewolves are very possessive. That's why Lydia and Allison haven't been targeted because they smell like their mates – like pack"

Stiles' eyebrows furrowed "Why don't I smell like pack" he was clearly offended.

"It's quite hard to smell like pack when you're not a wolf or sleeping with one" he answered.

"Okay... but I still don't get how that's going to keep me alive"

There was a group groan of annoyance and Scott hit face-palmed, Isaac let out a snort of laughter while Lydia rolled her eyes and Derek pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Everyone in the pack is dating..." Scott said slowly, explaining to Stiles as if her were an elementary school student. "They're human's smell like them... you and Derek are the only one's single"

"Well... thank you for pointing out that no one loves me, I really needed that confiden – WHAT?"

His eyes were wide with horror at how truly awful this situation was.

"Look, I'm not pleased about it either" he grumbled "but either you start smelling like me and going out with me in public in case we're being watched, or you're going to die... you're not my favourite person, but I don't want you dead"

"Gee, thanks for that..." he muttered angrily.

"So, what do you say? Will you pretend to date him or are you going to let yourself get killed?" Allison asked quietly, her voice laced with venom because no matter how good the treaty is between the Pack and the Argents; she's still very weary of Derek.

"Fine, but only because I don't fancy having my spine ripped out through my mouth" he groaned and rubbed his temple where he was developing a headache. "We can start later but for now; I'm going to go get a very large cup of coffee"

Stiles turned to walk away but a hand wrapped around his wrist and tugged him back. "What the fuck?!" he yelled, causing many people in the parking lot to look at him.

"Stiles" Derek's face was _right_ there, his eyes red. "We don't know when they're going to come for you... that means you're going to need to start right now"

"But if I don't go to Chem then I'll get detention!" he whined "Harris hates me, he once gave me detention for having the flu!"

Derek growled in annoyance. "I'm not _taking_ you anywhere." He paused to unzip his ever-present leather jacket "Put this on"

Stiles' jaw dropped "Get the fuck out" his eyes narrowed

In typical 'Hi-I'm-Derek-Hale-And-I'm-Emotionally-Constipated -So-Instead-Of-Talking-I'm-Going-To-Manhandle-You' fashion; there were suddenly hands holding the front of his shirt and he was being slammed into the side of his Jeep, Derek's angry, red eyes staring at him and fangs baring.

"I'm trying to help you so stop being an inconsiderate little brat or I'm going to kill you myself" he growled, a slight lisp present due to his elongated teeth.

Stiles gulped, his hands reaching up to grip Derek's wrists in an attempt to hold himself in place and then he levelled him with a bored expression "I get what you're doing but you can't expect me to get on board with it straight away!" he argued.

"Just wear the freaking jacket" he hissed

"Fine!" he murmured "I'll wear the jacket, just let me go"

His eyes narrowed "This is going to get worse" he warned "and the bigger the danger, the more you'll need to smell like me"

"Can we cross that bridge when we come to it?"

Derek shrugged and released him, and then finished removing his jacket and handed it to the clearly displeased teen. Stiles put it on and pouted when Erika snorted loudly because the jacket was a little too big for him and he felt ridiculous.

"This isn't funny" he snapped angrily

Derek gave Erika a pointed look and she held her hands up in defence but that smirk didn't leave her face. "Go back to class" he said and then he mumbled something so quietly that human-ears wouldn't be able to pick it up and Stiles thinks that was his intention because the wolves are suddenly nodding.

They all say their goodbyes and then, suddenly, Stiles is being hugged. And holy shit, Derek Hale is hugging him! Stiles squealed and then flailed because Derek was purposefully rubbing his stubble against Stiles' neck and murmuring a quiet 'sorry' in his ear before he lets go, gets back in his Camaro and drives off. Leaving Stiles with a face of horror, mixed with shock and even more horror.

He feels Isaac put an arm around his shoulder and lead him to Chemistry because he's allowed to be terrified at the fact Derek Hale just hugged and rubbed his face on him. It was a pretty horrific event!


	2. Chapter 2

**So I was totally going to wait until tonight to post this but I decided to post the chapter early due to how much love I'm getting!  
Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed, favourited or followed this story.  
Enjoy xx**

* * *

By the end of the day, Stiles was sick of people _touching_ him. The guys had been putting their arms around his shoulder, punching his arm and finding _every_ reason they could to wrestle Stiles in Lacrosse. While Erica was holding his hand, linking arms, demanding he give her a piggy-back ride and not to mention the amount of hugs he was getting from both her and the guys. And on top of that, he was being forced to wear a leather jacket that was neither his, nor did it suit him and even he could smell the intense amount of _Derek_ he was suddenly surrounded with.

So when he got into his Jeep and Scott got in the passenger door. Stiles thought he was going to have a brain aneurism or something because he'd had enough. He'd demanded that Scott get out; which had turned into an argument that was abruptly ended when Erika leaned in through his open window and licked a line up the side of Stiles' face.

Stiles let out a loud noise of frustration and then demanded that Scott get out of his car (to which he surprisingly complied), and he not-so-kindly tells Erica to fuck off. Before he pulls his Jeep out of the parking lot and towards home because he wanted to go crawl into bed and go to sleep and try and forget this day happened at all.

Stiles was sporting a very, very bad headache by the time he parked his car in the drive. He'd gone from having a normal day to it being manhandled, told to wear a oversized jacket and followed around by a pack of wolves that are intent on touching him at every possible opportunity. When he entered his house, he went immediately up to his room and collapsed face-first onto his bed and he made a loud, frustrated noise into his pillow.

There was a beat of silence, then a quiet chuckle and Stiles flipped over on his bed and glared at Derek from where he was sat in his desk chair.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he demanded, returning his feet to the ground to sit on the edge of the bed.

"I cleaned your wall" he said innocently and Stiles turned to eye the wall that only had a faint triangular symbol, no one would really notice it unless they knew what they were looking for.

Stiles scratched the back of his neck "Thanks... I guess."

Derek shrugged and glared at the floor because apparently, his carpet was _really_ interesting. "You kept the jacket on" he said, it sounded more like an accusation than a statement.

"I did" he answered softly.

"That's... good" Derek said hesitantly, his eyes trained on the floor and Stiles is feeling that scratching beneath his skin, the itch that makes him want to move because sitting still is physically painful. But he can't move, he _won't_ be the one to break this awkward situation they're in. But he can't help it, he's scratching his wrist; nails irritating the skin and he can't stop, he needs to say something so badly.

"Approximately half the world's geysers are located in Yellowstone National Park" Stiles blurted abruptly and then he felt his face heat up and his nails were scratching harshly at his wrist now, turning the skin a harsh red.

"What?" he blinked, clearly confused because regular people don't just blurt out random shit but then again, Stiles wasn't normal.

He screwed his eyes shut and he could feel his body shaking. The nails on his wrist had stopped moving frantically, instead they were digging in, as hard as they could because that bloody itch wouldn't leave him the fuck alone. His mouth is working before his brain even checks it because now he's starting to stress out and yeah, stressing makes the whole thing worse.

"Flashlight Fish project light that is created by luminescent bacteria that live in the pockets below its eyes."

"Stiles... I don't get it..." Derek mumbled, now sounding quite worried that the teen was having a mental breakdown or something, because that would be totally acceptable with all the shit that has happened over the last year or so.

He presses the nails deeper into the skin and he can feel it – it _hurts_ but he can't stop because he's stressed and there's a werewolf sat in his room and he's wearing his jacket. And a pack of _bigger_ werewolves are hunting him because they can. Stiles tries to press his nails in more but suddenly there's a hand curling around his and another hand is placed on the back of his neck.

"Stiles" Derek is saying gently and the teen can tell that he's kneeling down in front of him "what's wrong?"

"I'm itchy" he replied and Derek doesn't ask for an explanation because you'd have to be a moron not to know that he's got ADHD. But for some reason, Stiles has convinced himself that Derek is going to laugh, just like Jackson did when he saw one of these episodes in middle school so he's genuinely shocked when the Alpha carefully moves his hand away and he's examining his wrist.

"It would appear, that you have thoroughly killed that itch and it won't be coming back for a long time" Derek says, like they're talking about what they had for breakfast.

Stiles slowly opened his eyes and he's right, Derek is knelt down in front of him; looking at him like at that very second, he's the most important thing in the world and Stiles hasn't seen that look since his Mom died.

"Dr. Seuss's real name was Theodor Seuss Geisel."

The edges of Derek's lips are twitching like he wants to smile and eventually he gives in and there's a curve to his lips that Stiles has never seen before. "I like Dr. Seuss" he admits

"What's your favorite quote?" Stiles knows he pushing because Derek just revealed something a little personal about himself and Derek doesn't do that. But the teen always did like to push boundaries.

He considered for a moment "'Teeth are always in style'"

Stiles chuckled and he can feel the itch retreating and he's so tired. He lets his head slump forwards into Derek's shoulder but only because he's meant to smell like him and that means they have to be close... right? _Right!?_

"Why that?" Stiles asks eventually.

"Because when I was younger, I had trouble keeping my fangs in... and Laura used to laugh at me so I used to say 'Teeth are always in style' and she'd leave me alone" Derek shrugs but Stiles can tell by the tone of his voice that he's grinned.

"That's a nice story" Stiles nods, "although, only you could use Dr. Seuss for Werewolf purposes"

Derek doesn't reply but his hand starts to massage the back of his neck while the other is wrapped lightly around his wrist. It shouldn't be, but it actually feels comfortable and Stiles' _knows_ it shouldn't feel that way because it's _Derek_ (you know, the guy the accused of murder... twice).

"I'm sorry" he whispers into the thin cotton of his t-shirt.

"About what?" he replies at the same volume.

"I'm not really being very helpful with this whole thing... you're trying to save my life and all I've done is argue it and then I go and have a freak out because my brain is broken." He grumbles.

"You're brain isn't broken," he sighed "you should have seen my freak out earlier after I left your house, there are many savaged trees in the forest now"

Stiles chuckled "Well, I won't object anymore... okay? You know what you're doing, you know all this wolf stuff and I'm hopeless, so I'll go with it"

Derek laughs – _actually_ laughs. And holy crap, that sound is musical. "Thanks, I know you'll try not to fight it but I know you will, it's just who you are... you're stubborn"

Stiles shrugs "Okay, I'll argue a little" he admits but then he brightly adds, "but not as much"

"Good, because you're not going to like what I have to say next"

"Try me" he smirks because he's determined not to argue, just so he can prove that bastard wrong.

"Well, the best way to change your scent is for me to sleep here. So, you've got a new bed guest"

"WHAT?!"


	3. Chapter 3

**HI! I just wanted to say another HUGE thank you to everyone for all the love ^^  
and also apologise - I've got a few messages saying about minor mistakes?  
Would you all bear with me? I don't have a Beta (hehe, wolf joke) so I'm on my own.  
Muchos Love - enjoy!xx**

Derek rolled his eyes "I told you that you'd freak you"

Stiles is staring at him like he's grown a second head; his eyes wide and mouth opening and closing like he's a goldfish. "Y-You can't just _decide_ that" he says "You don't get that decision"

"Stiles" he sighs, his hands still holding onto the younger teen "We literally _just_ discussed this... I'm trying not to let you die"

"But you could have at least asked! I wouldn't be so upset if you'd said 'hey, so for the scenting; would it be okay if I slept in your bed with you?' instead of announcing that you're a 'bed-guest'!"

"I think you're being a bit dramatic about this"

Stiles began to splutter "Dramatic?" he half-yelled "you haven't even seen dramatic yet"

"Look, you've slept in the same bed as Scott, right?" he doesn't bother waiting for Stiles' reply "well, it's the same... we're not having sex or anything"

Stiles' eyes narrow "Will there be cuddling?"

He avoids Stiles' gaze for a minute or two before he sighs again "There will need to be a _degree_ of touching for the scent to come across... so, Stiles; would you mind if we 'cuddled'?" Derek Hale is mocking him, sarcastic quotation and all.

"Explain how cuddling with help?" he says, still not totally convinced.

"Scent is transferred mostly through touching, and although it can happen just by being close -and I mean, _really_ close- it's not as effective or as quick. And seeing as time is of the essence, because we don't know when the Alpha Pack will make their move, we need quick." Derek answers, using what Stiles named 'Serious-Business' voice "Also, there is a chance they'll drop by a couple more times, to get used to your routines but if I'm here then they'll delay whatever they're planning and I can protect you if anything does happen"

"Okay, that's a good enough reason for me to cuddle with a huge Alpha Werewolf while I sleep" Stiles nodded slowly "Isn't it easier when you take your time explaining instead of demanding all the time?"

"Isn't it easier when you shut up?" Derek retorted

"No." He snapped back.

Then he stood to take off the heavy leather jacket because it was far too warm in his room, he hung the jacket over the back of his desk chair and then tutted when he saw Derek frowning in his peripheral vision.

"What _now_?" Stiles growled.

"It's kind of hard for my scent to rub off my jacket onto you when you take it off" he replied curtly

"It's too hot" he complained "and that this is too big! Don't you own a hoodie?"

Derek shook his head before standing and going over to Stiles' drawers and he starts rooting around in his T-Shirts; holding them up to his chest before mumbling about size. Eventually, he finds a shirt that seems sufficient because he's stripping off and throwing his own Tee at Stiles' face and pulling on a plain black on that Stiles had received for Christmas years ago, but it had drowned him so it got buried at the bottom of his drawer – until now.

"Put that on" Derek said. "It's got my smell on it"

"Y'know, I'm getting a little annoyed at you saying the words 'put that on' today" Stiles grumbled but despite that, he's standing and pulling off his own shirt and throwing it at his overflowing laundry basket before tugging Derek's over his head. Predictably, it's too big; the material hangs off his tiny frame but it doesn't actually look too bad so Stiles decides that he's happy in this and if he smells like the other man and maybe, just maybe, Derek might finally stop demanding so much.

"You can wear this shirt tomorrow" Derek says to no one in particular "and I'll start giving you my clothes... and the jacket" he's nodding like there is more than just himself in this conversation and Stiles is watching him like he's completely insane.

"Right, so... what? I'm expected to wear all your clothes now?" he blinked, _so_ didn't sign up for this.

"I can yours too... if it fits then you can wear it the next day" he shrugs.

"How long until I smell like you completely?" Stiles asks and he's not really sure he wants an answer to that but at the same time, he really, really wants to know just for a better insight into the inner-workings of the Werewolves.

"If we spend _a lot_ of time together? Maybe a week? But if you're not comfortable with the touching then it'll be longer; two, maybe three weeks?"

Stiles nods slowly "And when you 'the touching', how do you mean?"

Derek looks tired, like questions are making him _tired_ – he's a freaking Werewolf! He rubbed a hand down his face as he thinks "Well... for it to work quickly. It's be still like stuff like sleeping together, hugging... basically, I just need to touch your skin"

"So we'll look like a couple?" he frowned again

"Yes" he answered simply.

"If the Alpha pack is watching... do we need to _act_ like a couple?" Stiles asks hesitantly.

"Yes. Or else they'll suspect our scenting plan instead of thinking we're together and then you're back up as food"

"Don't call me food" he whines and Derek chuckled. "I wouldn't be tasty at all. I'm all bone; you're the tasty one... all those muscles"

It's Derek's turn to hesitate this time because... did Stiles just accidently call him attractive? He doesn't mention it, he just offers a shrug.

The rest of the night passes quietly; Stiles does what little homework he has while Derek read one of the many books that Stiles had collected in connection to Werewolves and the Alpha is snorting occasionally because apparently that book is 'so wrong, it's funny'. They order pizza for dinner and Stiles gets angry at Derek for eating the last piece because it's _his_ money so therefore, Stiles gets last-pizza-slice priority (although, when he voices this, Derek literally laughs in his face). After they eat, Stiles turns on his TV and starts playing on the X-Box while Derek explores the internet because his house doesn't have internet and apparently, Derek is having withdrawal symptoms.

It's around midnight when Derek abruptly turns and says "It's late, you should go to sleep"

Stiles shrugged and then the controller is being carefully taken from his frantically moving thumbs and yeah... Stiles needed to go to bed. He has school tomorrow and it's going to be awkward with all the Beta's trying to constantly be around him.

Stiles eventually relents, going to the bathroom to prepare for bed and when he goes back, Derek is already wearing a pair of sweats he'd found in the bottom of the wardrobe, and holy crap, he's shirtless. Stiles tries not to pay attention to the fact that he's currently stripping off to his boxers and Derek is staring at him so intensely that he might actually explode. But he ignores it and flicks off the light before clambering into his bed, which is very roomy for one person who likes to stretch but _not_ okay when you have to share with a Werewolf.

"Are you okay?" Derek asked quietly

"Peachy keen, jellybean!" he smirked and then he takes a deep breath and _goes_ for it. He rolls over and slots himself under Derek's arm; he rests his head on the broad chest and throws an arm across his stomach. "Like that?"

"Yeah," Derek is nodding and his hands are coming out to wrap around Stiles' body.

"Okay... my Dad isn't due home until after I leave for school tomorrow so whatever you hear, it isn't him" Stiles says and Derek is nodding again, saying he's got it and he'll remember. "Goodnight"

"Goodnight, Stiles" he said gruffly.

And Stiles really does his best not to think about how nice it is, having someone else in his bed. How nice it is to cuddle into someone and feel wanted. He's refusing to feel these things though because it's _Derek_. Except, he really doesn't care. Cuddling with Derek feels good – natual.

Oh shit, yep... he's in trouble.


	4. Chapter 4

Stiles didn't think is possible... but somehow, he Beta's were suffocating him even more today. He'd done what Derek had said and wore the shirt he'd put on last night, and he even put on the ridiculous leather jacket. But he knew his day was going to be annoying because the moment he stepped out of his door to go to his Jeep – Derek's Camaro was at the end of the drive and Derek himself was leant against it, swinging the key around on his finger.

Stiles rubbed his temple "What... are you doing?" he asked, his voice tight with annoyance.

"I'm driving you to school" he replied, sunglasses were covering his eyes but the teen knew he the Alpha's eyes would be laughing at him.

"Of course you are" he muttered angrily before stomping over and getting in the passenger seat. He could hear Derek laughing as he walked round the car and climbed in.

Derek took Stiles hand as they drove and he didn't let it go until they were parked at the school – the Alpha turned to him and put a hand on his neck, gently massaging the skin as he'd done last night and Stiles couldn't help but lean into the touch.

"You're puppies are going to be all over me again, aren't they?" Stiles said

Derek grinned, his brilliant white teeth shone in the sunlight "Maybe; I just told them to keep you safe. Apparently, they took that to mean they'd like to scent you too..." he shrugged

"Do you fancy calling that off?" he asked hopefully.

"Nope," he said simply, amusement seeming into his voice.

"Oh, come on!" he whined.

"Look, what they're doing is good. And think of how popular everyone will think you are" Derek was smirking, and Stiles' eyes narrowed as he levelled him with a very unimpressed glare. "See, people are already staring, aren't you lucky!"

Stiles cast a look around and sure enough, there were a few people staring – Stiles hoped it was because they were admiring the car or at least the boy next to him... but he knew they were looking at the two of them, as Derek stroked his thumb on Stiles' jaw.

"You're an asshole." He growled.

Derek just shrugged again and leaned over the teen to open the door. "Whatever you say. I'll be here when you get out of school to drive you back"

Stiles climbed out of the car and tried not to look as pissed as he felt. "Yeah, bye" he said curtly before slamming the door. He watched silently as Derek waved and drove off – still feeling the eyes of other students and overhearing one girl talking to her friend, saying 'damn, that's a lucky kid. His boyfriend is smokin''. And for some reason that lifted Stiles' spirits because this might not be the best situation but yeah, you'd be stupid not to think that Derek was obscenely attractive and it totally looked like they were dating.

He was about to stop grinning like an idiot and walk to class when he heard his name being shouted. Stiles turned just in time to see Isaac pull him into a tight hug and then he could hear the clicking of heels and he knew that meant Erica was coming too – so he wasn't really surprised when there was a pair of arms wrapping around his waist from behind. He did, however, squeak when cold hands slid up the front of his shirt.

Stiles' was going to start yelling at her to get off when he heard Allison yelling "GROUP HUG" and there were several more bodies joining their embrace as well as so many more hands trying to touch a section of his skin. When he was finally released, Stiles frowned and shook his head before going to his locker with a parting pat-on-the-back from Boyd, a kiss on the cheek from Lydia and Scott threw an arm around his shoulders.

"Dude, this is so stupid" he complained to his best friend "Derek Hale slept in my bed last night – _in my bed_!" his voice was a couple octaves higher than usual because apparently, having a Werewolf in your bed was defiantly something to be worked up about.

Scott covered a laugh by coughing and then he offered Stiles a supportive Rather-You-Than-Me look. "And... how did that go?" he asked

"Terribly!" Stiles yelled "I have never known someone to wriggle so much! And he's like a _bazillion_ degrees!"

Scott snorted and Stiles swatted his chest with the back of his hand "Well, I was doing rounds last night and I stopped by your house-"

"You creeper!"

"-and you two seemed pretty snug in your bed"

Stiles stopped because he was now dreading what Scott had seen. When he'd woken up, he was laid on his front, his head resting on the Alpha's bicep and Derek was draped across his back; he could feel hot breath on his neck, Derek's other arm wrapped around his chest and a leg curled around his own. It wasn't uncomfortable, in fact, if was actually quite nice. He felt safe; waking up in the embrace of another, a hand splayed out over his heart and warmth covering his body.

"O-Oh" he stuttered and continued walking before Scott could explain.

He didn't get very far when Erica was linking arms with him and offering him a soft smile. "Y'know, you actually look quite nice in that jacket" she said quietly "It's a little big but its part of the charm"

"Thanks" he muttered, "If it counts, you're looking lovely too"

She threw her head back and let out a laugh "Whoa now, Tiger. I have a boyfriend and so do you"

Stiles glared at her and a whimper slipped his lips "Don't say that"

"Why? It's what you guys are going for, right?"

"Yeah, I guess..." he hesitated "but it's weird... I don't know, it's _Derek_"

"Ooh, Derek" she mocked "is Stiles afraid big scary Alpha?"

"Damn straight, he keeps throwing me against walls" he flailed his arms; accidently catching his hand on a locker and groaning when Erica laughs.

"Kinky" she smirked

Stiles squeaked and twisted his arm out of hers then for the first time in his entire school life - he ran to Chemistry, to simply avoid being harassed by any other supernatural beings.

One in his seat, he demanded that Danny sit beside him because Danny was safe – Danny didn't rub his face against Stiles' neck. And then he hit his head against the table as the other boy patted his back.

"It'll be okay" he offered awkwardly "it could be worse – you could be dating Greenburg"

Stiles sat up abruptly "I'M NOT DATING HIM" he screeched, earning himself a glare from Harris.


	5. Chapter 5

By the time Stiles finished school, he was deciding between; pass out, punch someone or (and this happened to be Stiles' favourite option) all of the above. He tripped down the steps with yawn but didn't even jump when Derek suddenly appeared in front of him, instead of offering a sarcastic remark, a dog joke or a complaint – he just crowded into the other man's space and rested his head against Derek's shoulder. Because Derek was the only person who hadn't overloaded his 'touching limit' (Stiles didn't even know he had a limit to the amount of touching he could handle until today – surprise.)

He felt the Alpha's chest rumble as he chuckled and his hand immediately came up to rest in his hair. "Tough day?" he asked quietly.

"Your fucking Beta's won't leave me alone" he grumbled.

Again, Derek laughed "Are they still scenting you?"

"Yes, Erica keeps trying to man-handle me out of my clothes and Isaac is rubbing his face on me all the time, the girls keep kissing my cheek. The only safe person is Danny but he's always near Isaac – the face rubber" Stiles stuffs his hands into the pockets of the leather jacket and sighs deeply "and I'm tired and grumpy and I just want to go home. Drive me home"

Derek patted his head before putting an arm around his waist "Yes, your highness" he smirked as he lead the younger boy towards the Camaro - he shooed away some Freshman who were gawping at the car and then Stiles got in the passenger seat and closing his eyes as he tried to relax back into it.

Soon they were out of the parking lot and driving over the speed limit towards his house, Stiles could feel the hairs on the back of his neck starting to tingle and he slowly opened his eyes again to find Derek watching him.

"What?" he asked quietly

Derek shrugged and returned his eyes to the road. Stiles could _feel_ the angst pouring off of him. It was almost painful to be sat this close to someone with the emotional range of a cactus. That thought caused Derek's head to snap round and glare at him, raising a questioning eyebrow.

Stiles waved a dismissive hand "Don't worry about it, my brain is just being hilarious"

"I worry about you sometimes" he said, voice tight but it still had a slight trace of amusement in there "were you ever dropped on your head as a baby?"

"As a baby? I don't think so?" he answered "pretty much every time I've been around you? My head is hitting something as you throw me against walls"

Derek rolled his eyes "I don't hurt you, do I?"

Stiles contemplates that for a second "Huh, I suppose you don't... I've seen you break Erica's wrist, so..." he pauses and then quickly adds "I'm not going to say thanks, because you still throw me around like a ragdoll"

"If you were a ragdoll, I'd throw you in the bin" Derek shrugged, taking a sharp turn.

"Rude" he remarks but doesn't take it further. They sit in relative silence until Derek clicks his tongue and glances at the teen.

"So... what did you do at school today?" he asks and Stiles is instantly reminded of his earlier thought because this proves it... even a cactus has better social skills that Derek – and they're covered with spikes.

Stiles covers a laugh "Well... I got harassed by the pack. I was kicked out of English for sleeping and I fell over my own feet in Gym"

Derek eyes him cautiously "You're surrounded by Werewolves who can rip out your throat... and yet, you seem to cause all the damage to yourself? How does that even work?"

"I don't even know" he throws his arms in the air in aspiration, again – there's a moment of silence while Stiles thinks about how to continue this conversation "Umm, what did you do today?" he questions, hesitating momentarily because somehow, he kind-of doesn't want to know.

Derek's mouth curled a little "I mostly hung out in your room" he said simply "I have gone through your wardrobe and taken shirts that fit me and I replaced them with shirts that are too small for me but still hold my scent."

Stiles stares at him, his eye twitching every few seconds. "Dude!" he yells "This is why we developed the talking thing... because seriously, it's not acceptable just to hang out in someone's room then they're not there; change around their wardrobe around and most probably use the laptop – you can't do that without letting that person know!" the teen began rubbing his temples in slow, circular motions because the headache he'd managed to get rid of last night was returning.

"I was keeping a look-out to see if the Alpha Pack drops by for a second visit" he retorts, sounding offended like Stiles is the one who's been creeping about in _his_ room for the day.

Stiles pressed his hands against his eyes and groaned because when you become a Werewolf, do you suddenly lose all sense of boundaries and personal space? He feels Derek run a hand up and down his back; normally, this would look like an attempt to comfort him but Stiles knows it's more likely to be a scenting thing.

"Your Father was also home" Derek commented, his voice tight "I was worried that if I left and the Alpha pack dropped by – they may view him as collateral damage. I stayed until he left for work."

"Okay" he sighs in acceptance because he might not be happy about Derek not asking to raid his wardrobe but he _was_ keeping his Dad safe "Sorry, I said I wouldn't complain"

"I do believe I laughed at you" he says shortly.

"You did" he nodded but said no more until they pulled up at the Stilinski residence and Derek cut the engine. Stiles stepped out and slammed the door shut, throwing on his backpack and waiting for Derek to catch him up after locking the Camaro.

"Do you have much homework?" he asked as they walked to the front door.

Stiles shrugged "Just Chem, it'll take me two minutes" he answered "What do you want to do tonight?"

Derek frowned as he unlocked the door and stepped inside. "You don't have to entertain me, I can read a book"

Stiles scoffed "Dude, you're stopping me from being torn to shreds by a group of Alphas... the least I can do is make your life interesting," he toed off his shoes and then dropped his backpack besides them before heading to the kitchen "Do you want a drink?"

Derek followed suit, leaving his boots beside the teens and following him. "No, thank you"

"Eat?" he asked, grabbing a can of soda and glared at it.

"No"

Stiles sighed deeply and looked at the clock on the wall "Look, I'm really hungry and we having nothing to eat here that isn't a health meal... so do you want to go out and grab something?"

Derek hesitated "Okay" he answered finally.

Stiles returned the can to the fridge and went to put his shoes back on when his phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID and found that it was Erica, he raised an eyebrow as he pressed answer.

"Hello?" he asked, voice filled with boredom.

"Oh hey," she replied "just checking you got home okay"

"Yeah, fine. We're actually just heading out" he said, trying to stand on one foot as he pulled on his left shoe and then he began to topple but Derek caught his arm and held him in place.

"Oh? Where too?" Stiles could _hear _the smirk in her voice.

"Just something to eat, we haven't decided yet" he replied, thanking the Alpha with a silent smile.

"Awh" she cooed "your first date!"

" " Stiles growled and then he hung up and glared at Derek "Seriously, if she wasn't a girl... or a Werewolf, I'd punch her in the face"

"It's kind of a date" Derek said blankly.

Stiles threw his hands up in the air before stomping out the front door with a loud yell of "It's not a fucking date."


	6. Chapter 6

They drove around town until they decided to stop at a little Diner; it looked like it had come straight out of Grease. The menu was laid out in chalk boards behind the counter, the tables were all stainless steel and chairs a vibrant red leather, if it wasn't for the fact they had the best fries in town – Stiles would never set foot in here again.

They found a booth in the far corner and a waitress came over to take their order almost immediately. "Hi, I'm Jessica, I'll be your waitress today." She flashed Derek a huge smile that made Stiles frown (but only because he never gets smiled at like that – right?) "and what can I get for you, handsome?"

Derek ignored her and glanced at the teen "Stiles?" he asked, jaw tight.

Stiles smothered a laugh and looked at the waitress, "I'll have a fries and a chocolate milkshake"

"Okay then," she answered before turning back to Derek.

"Make that a large fries and I'll have lemonade"

She nodded before returning to the counter with their order. Stiles shook his head in disbelief and then put his elbow on the table and rested his head on his hand, looking at the older man – his muscles were rigid and his eyes were darting everywhere.

"What's the matter?" he asked, leaning in further.

Derek levelled him in a frown and then moved closer and he put a hand on Stiles' cheek "They're here" he mumbled, so low that Stiles barely heard it, and now he kind of wished he hadn't because he was forcing his entire body to not go still.

"Showtime?" he replied, not even a whisper.

Derek nodded, moving the hand from his cheek to thread their fingers together and he gave Stiles a smile that literally made his heart skip a beat – he blushed and ducked his head.

"Y'know, you could have been a bit nicer to the waitress" Stiles said, smirking

"What do you mean?" Derek blinked; tilting his head to the side and holy shit, there goes Stiles' heart again.

"You totally dismissed her, it was actually a little funny" he grinned, reaching across to get Derek's spare hand and began to play with Derek's fingers; and drawing patterns on his palm.

"She dismissed you first. Besides, you can't just completely ignore one customer" he shrugged.

"Awh" he cooed "I never had you down for chivalrous"

"Sometimes, I think you still believe that I'm a murder who chases people round the woods and kills small animals for fun" he deadpanned

Stiles snorts loudly and starts laughing, earning many unimpressed looks from the surrounding people but he managed to make the edges of Derek's lips twitch "It's not my fault you creep around. I mean, you've been getting better since Isaac, Erica and Boyd came around but you still jump out at me and don't think I don't see you watching our Lacrosse practice from the woods"

"So, what you're saying is that since I got a pack, I became less creepy? But I'm still creepy because I like to make sure my pack are safe?" he said.

"Yes." He answered happily but then his eyes went wide and he flailed slightly "I mean no – you're creepy but not creepy. I don't know. Stop looking at me like that" the words flew out so quickly that even Stiles had trouble following what he was saying but clearly, it was the reaction Derek wanted because he was grinning like a maniac again. "Don't be mean" he whined

"I'm not" Derek smirks "I was merely trying that 'discussion' thing you're obsessed with"

"Asshole" Stiles muttered

"Heard that"

"You were meant to" he grumbled, glaring at the man sat opposite him. Derek opens his mouth to answer when Stiles holds up a finger "No, don't try and bullshit your way out of this. Just accept you're an asshole and we'll move on"

He stays silent for a few seconds before shrugging and placing his hand back on Stiles' cheek; the hand gripping Stiles' suddenly squeezed in warning – his eyes intense.

"You know" he announced, knowing that even the human ears around could probably hear him "for a tough guy, you're pretty girly when it comes to relationships"

Derek's eyes narrow (yep, Stiles knows he's going to be in trouble for that later) but he plasters a fake smile on "Truth be told, I thought you'd be more flexible" he retorts "but I can't have everything, huh?"

"No, but it's hard to be flexible when you're topping... but you don't seem to complain all that much" he sees Derek's eyes flash red and his nails dig into the back of Stiles' hand.

Stiles is about to come out with another snide remark when he suddenly gets the overwhelming urge to start laughing because this is so awkward. At this point, he's wishing that they'd just stayed at his house and watched a movie, maybe order a pizza or some Chinese food because anything, even getting ripped apart by an Alpha pack would be less painfully awkward than this right now.

When he starts laughing, Derek just looks angry until he too chuckles and releases the pressure from Stiles' hand and he looks down at it. There are four crescent-moon indents where his nails had marked the skin and Derek stares at them, looking a little ashamed before he lifts Stiles' hand to his lips and kisses his knuckles with a murmured apology. Stiles' brain explodes _**'Holy mother of shit, Derek Hale just kissed my hand. Okay, don't panic. It's meant to be everyday shit – Smile Stiles! Good, stupid Alpha pack being in the stupid Diner, I only wanted some stupid fries and a stupid milkshake. Stupid Derek being stupidly attractive. WAIT, WHAT? NOPE – get out of your head, he's talking to you!'**_

"-ay? You look like you're about to have a panic attack" Derek frowned

"Fine" he breathes, "just tired"

"I'll drive you home afterwards?" he asked.

Stiles nodded before remembering that the Alpha pack is nearby, and they're meant to be thinking they're together "You staying tonight?"

"Sure"

Their conversation is interrupted when the waitress returns with their order and places it on the table, sliding a card over to Derek. The Alpha just looks the number scrawled across it with a heart drawn underneath and he gives it back.

"I'm with my boyfriend" he tells her, giving Stiles another breathtaking smile.

"You should keep it... in case you two ever split up?" she tries to give it back to him but he just looks at the card, almost willing it to set on fire.

"I'm really _not_ interested" he says, voice stern

She clicks her tongue in annoyance and stands there, her eyes darting between the two of them. They share a confused look because seriously, was she not getting the message? Was she stupid or just ignorant? Stiles decides he doesn't care either way because he might not be dating Derek but he's meant to be pretending so he can play the role of 'the boyfriend' and tell her to piss off. He also has the best thing to say – ever.

"Did you know..." he starts, drawing hers and Derek's attention "that people are like clouds. When they disappear, it just brightens up your day"

Derek lets out a laugh and the waitress spins on her heel before storming off. The older man picks up one of the fries and points it at the teen. "That was fantastic"


	7. Chapter 7

Derek offers to pay for their meal, and Stiles doesn't put up a fight because he's seriously lacking in money right now. So he waits just outside the door and gives a faint smile when Derek leaves and throws an arm around his shoulders, leaning over so that his mouth is _right_ next to Stiles' ear.

"We're being followed" he whispers

Stiles laughs like Derek's just told him something funny and he lets his arm wind around the Alpha's waist. He too can hear the very faint footsteps behind them but he does his best to ignore them, knowing that Derek is paying enough attention for the two of them.

"Are you driving me to school tomorrow" Stiles asks – one; because he's genuinely curious and two; he wants whoever is following them to know that Derek's sticking around for the night.

"Sure, I've got to pick up the others on the way, is that okay?" he replies

"Yeah, but I call shotgun" he laughs.

"I wouldn't expect anything less" Derek shoots him a slight smile but Stiles can see the underlying expression; he's watching the surrounding area, disguising it as looking at his 'boyfriend' and Stiles' kind of wants to congratulate him because he's doing a really good job.

When they reach the Camaro, Derek opens the passenger door and Stiles climbs in, and busies himself with putting on his seatbelt before Derek is getting in the other side and turning on the engine – pulling out of the parking lot quickly.

"Fuck me, that was the most awkward milkshake – _ever_" Stiles groans, sinking back into the comfort of the chair.

Derek's hands tighten on the steering wheel "I should have smelt them in the parking lot" he growls "I can't believe I was _that_ ignorant"

"Don't beat yourself up, you were clearly too in love with me to notice anything else" he smirks and then winces when Derek punches his arm, just a little too hard to be joking. "Dude, stop beating up the human! I bruise"

He rubs a hand through his hair, something, Stiles has come to realise is a nervous habit. "They're still following us" he says, glancing in the rear-view mirror.

"How many?" he asks, not really wanting to know the answer.

"Two." He says, "I recognised the scent from the one that was in your room – a woman"

"Should I call the others?" Stiles says, reaching for his cell.

"No" he snaps "They're not going to make a move, it's too early for them, they'll stalk their pray for weeks. But they'll be forced to move if the others arrive. Don't you know anything about Werewolf Attacks?"

"No, okay – I fucking don't" Stiles is _seething_ because Derek is treating him like a kid when he's only trying to help. "I don't know if it's slipped your notice but I don't understand much about you guys. I don't get the scenting or the growling or any of the other weird shit you guys do. I'm human okay? I got dragged into this because of your crazy Uncle and I'm only still here because of my best friend"

There is a long, awkward silence in the car and Stiles wants to get out. He can feel that itch again, the one where he wants to run a freaking marathon and then do some back flips just so that he can stop being so freaking jittery.

As if the other can feel his sudden discomfort, Derek leans across and puts a hand on the back of Stiles' neck, playing with the short hairs there. "Sorry," he mutters "that was out of line"

Stiles doesn't reply, instead he just leans into the touch and the itch slowly starts to melt away and then it's leaving him tired and exhausted. "I didn't mean it..." he says eventually.

"Mean what?" Derek asks, glancing at him from the corner of his eye.

"When I said I'm only still here for Scott. It's not true. I love you guys, you're family... even though you're kind of a douche bag, but you're still my friend." He sighs again

Derek shrugs "I guess I am" he grins "But you are too... so we're even"

"I guess that's fair" Stiles nods, closing his eyes and leaning back into the chair once again. He feels Derek's hand trailing from neck – down his arm and then he threads their fingers together, and the teen doesn't currently have the brain power to stop the satisfied 'hmm' that slips his lips.

They stay silent until Derek pulls the car to a stop and Stiles opens his eyes to see they've pulled up at his house. But his happy, relaxed demeanour suddenly crashes when he sees his Dad's cruiser in the driveway.

"Shit" he mumbles "do you want to come through my window in a second?"

Derek nods and looks in the rear-view mirror again, then frowns deeply "They're still here, I'll walk you to your door, park the car round the corner and come through your window"

"You don't have to walk me to my door" he snorts

"Stiles... we're meant to be dating. Regular people walk their boyfriends to the door to say goodnight" he said, voice tight as he continues to stare in the mirror.

"Since when have you been regular?" he snipes before getting out of the car and waiting for Derek by the hood.

He lets Derek tangle their fingers again as they walk and by the time he reaches the front door – the hairs on the back of Stiles' neck are prickling; they're _defiantly_ being watched right now. Stiles had hoped they'd left so that they didn't have to make an awkward scene of saying goodbye – but the Universe hate him.

Once they come to a standstill, Stiles gets up in Derek's space and lightly wraps his arms around his neck. He offers an apologetic expression which quickly faded when Derek's putting his own arms around the thin waist and pulling him closer to that their bodies are flush together and for the second time that night, Stiles' brain won't shut the hell up _**'Holy crap, now would be such a bad time to get a boner. No, don't think about boners, think about kittens and rainbows and the Bible and oh my god, Derek's hugging me. What do I do? Hug back. Right, good job.'**_

Derek sniffs at his neck and chuckles in his ear "You're nervous"

"We're being watched by a group of Werewolves who want to kill me – you're damn right I'm nervous" he hisses but keeps a smile on his face.

He feels Derek's body shake with laughter but then he's freezing, still as a statue "They're talking" he whispers. "I can't hear what..."

"Well, we can't just stand here all night hugging, douche bag" Stiles says, pulling back a little. "Do something" he growls

"What?" he replies, sounding almost desperate.

"I don't know" Stiles says in the same tone. "Just... do something boyfriend-y so that I can go inside and die of embarrassment"

"But–" he starts, his voice boarding on frantic.

"_Derek_" Stiles hisses angrily.

And then they're kissing. Derek's lips are on his and Stiles tries not to act like this is something new, so he decides that he can have his freak out later but he really should get a fucking award for top-class acting today.

Derek's lips are soft and slightly chapped from where he chews them occasionally. But he's gentle as he slides his tongue across Stiles' bottom lip, asking for entrance that the teen allows almost instantly because holy crap. This is fucking _magical_. He smiles as Derek's tongue enters his mouth and starts to fight with Stiles' because the younger boy puts up a fight for everything, just because he's awkward. He can feel Derek's shoulders relax as they continue, and Stiles stops caring about the way his can _feel_ that they're being watched. He's running his fingers through Derek's hair, letting his other hand rest over his heart because it's beating incredibly fast and Derek's holding onto his body in the same desperate way – one hand clutching his hip and the other resting on the small of his back. And again, Stiles is completely startled at how _okay_ he is with this... whatever _this_ is.

Eventually, Derek moves to pull away and Stiles goes with him; leaning onto his tiptoes, wanting to keep their lips locked for as long as possible. Until he realises what he's just done and he returns his feet to the ground.

"That works" he muttered, leaning up for one more chaste kiss... for the act – right?

"I'll see you in a moment?" he asks, glancing above them to motion to his bedroom window.

"Sure, give me five" Derek nods, stepping back and waving as he retreats to his car with a huge grin.

Stiles smiles back and then enters his house. He closes the door and leans against it – listening to the sound of Derek's car start and then pull away and he can't get that freaking _smile_ off his face. And the tingling won't leave his lips. He sighs and hits his head back against the door that is standing between him and a few Alpha Werewolves.

"I'm so royally fucked" he mumbles.


	8. Chapter 8

"Stiles? You home?" he hears his Dad call from the Kitchen.

"Yeah" he croaks, his voice thick. His clears his throat and walks towards the kitchen and sees his Dad making a cheese and salad sandwich (which Stiles actually approves of because for once, his Dad is taking healthy eating seriously).

"Where'd you get off too? I thought I just saw Derek Hale's car outside" he shakes his head like he's not trusting his own eyes.

"You did" Stiles says that then he wants to face-palm because he hadn't meant to say that at all "We... We we're getting fries" he shrugs, trying to act like it's no big deal but he's having an internal freak out.

Sheriff Stilinski frowns and puts down the knife he's using to cut his sandwich and turns to level Stiles with a 'disapproving-Dad' look. "You went to get... fries... with Derek Hale?" he says, trying to let the idea of it sink in and Stiles is wishing that the floor would open up and swallow him whole.

"Yeah," he shrugs again – willing his Father to drop the subject.

"Is this about the thing I'm not supposed to know about?" he replies.

"Sort of..." Stiles bites his lip.

"Are you in some kind of trouble? Do I need to get involved?" he says, standing up taller and putting his hand on his gun; patting it softly.

"No. No, it's fine. We were just talking about the thing you don't know about"

"Okay, but if you go out with Derek Hale again, text me first – I don't trust him" he says, eyeing his son who just nods in agreement and mumbles something about being tired and bed before literally running up the stairs and slamming his door behind him.

He doesn't see Derek anywhere so he decides to change before he climbs through the window. He places the leather jacket on the back of his desk chair; then switches his top for one of the _huge_ t-shirts that Derek had given him and he takes off his jeans in favour of pulling on the sweats that Derek had worn to bed last night, he sits down and loads up his laptop and he's entering his password when the window slides open and the other man is silently coming in before closing it to stop the cold breeze coming in.

"Hey" Stiles mumbles without turning, his face burning with embarrassment as he remembers the kiss they'd shared just a few minutes ago.

Derek grunts in response and removes his boots and starts to go through the books that Stiles has piled high next to him. He can feel the heat radiating off of the other man and then it's gone as he retreats to sit on the bed.

Stiles rubs his eyes and stares at the bright screen before him – only half paying attention to his Facebook newsfeed as he reads that Lydia has a new type of nail polish and Isaac and Danny have _finally_ (after nearly two months) made their relationship 'Facebook Official'.

"About fucking time" he mutters, a smile tugging at the edges of his lips.

"What's that?" Derek asks

"Isaac and Danny went 'Facebook Official'" he laughs,

"Ahh, yes. That has taken quite a while. I heard Erica yelling at Isaac about it the other day"

"You hear everything" Stiles says bitterly

Derek just hmm's in agreement and goes back to his book. Stiles' leg decides that it doesn't want to sit still anymore and starts bouncing like his floor is a freaking trampoline (which, admittedly, would be awesome). He simply ignores it and starts to print off some school work but he can feel Derek glaring at him.

"Stiles" he growls after about five minutes "that is really irritating"

Stiles spins round and levels him with an unimpressed look "Yeah, well... you kissed me." He retorts, although he only ends up sounding like a five years old.

Derek raises an eyebrow and closes the book before sitting up "You told me to do something... I did something" he shrugs

"But _kiss_ me" he flails, hoping that will help get his point across "why did you have to go and make this complicated"

Derek opens his mouth and then closes it again before rubbing his hair and glancing around the room "I thought this was already complicated" he says eventually.

"No, this was tolerable" he replies, motioning between them frantically "then you kiss me and suddenly it's all intense and shit"

"Intense?" he asks "it was already intense"

"Yes, but now it's_ more_ intense and it's freaking me the fuck out"

Derek blinks and pinches the bridge of his nose "You're making little to no sense. Are you trying to tell me not to kiss you anymore?"

"No, don't be stupid" he snorts and then slaps a hand across his mouth.

Derek's eyebrows get higher on his forehead and Stiles fingers join his leg in its jittery excitement. "So, you _do_ want me to kiss you?" he asks, looking genuinely confused at the situation.

"Yes. What? No. I don't know" he groans and tugs at his hair harshly, almost hoping to pull out the stupid.

"Shut up, Stiles" he says and then flops back down on the bed and picks up his book again.

Stiles nods and spins round again, taking his now-printed work and stuffing it in his bag before standing and walking to the bathroom. He locks the door and looks in the mirror; from his neck to the tips of his ears, all of his skin is burning red and his lips are still slightly swollen from the kiss, he raises his fingers to his mouth and touches it lightly – revelling in the tingle that he wanted to go away less than ten minutes ago.

When did it get to this? Why can't the Alpha pack just kill him already to get it over with? Why did they have to come along and screw everything up in the first place? Stupid Alpha pack.

It's not like he _likes_ Derek – Stiles just hasn't been kissed like that before... or kissed at all. Holy crap, Derek Hale was his first kiss. Asshole. That was totally not okay, Stiles had been waiting since Kindergarten for Lydia to be his first kiss so that was not a fair trade... not that Derek wasn't attractive, because he was. He had the whole 'brooding-bad-boy' act going on, which yeah, that's hot but he didn't want him as a first kiss – even if it had been _amazing_.

'_**NO. Derek's kiss was NOT amazing, it was weird. He's a douche bag and you didn't have a good evening with him and you don't love the attention he's giving you. Nope, not at all.'**_ Well, maybe just a little.

Stiles groans in annoyance and hits his head on the wall because this _isn't_ fair. He's not supposed to even be friends with Alpha Werewolves (they're not even meant to exist) but look at that. As previously stated, the Universe _hates_ Stiles Stilinski. Utterly hates him.

Stiles tries not to dwell on his thoughts anymore because if he does then he'll possibly go completely insane. He just splashes his face with water, takes a leek and then brushes his teeth. He leaves the bathroom and calls a goodnight down the stairs to his Dad (who's watching some crappy reality TV show) before heading back into his bedroom and closing the door.

"It's early, are you actually going to go to sleep?" Derek asks, looking at him like he's insane.

"I'm tired" he shrugs, pulling the shirt over his head and throwing it back in the wardrobe before kicking off his sweats before standing by his bed; where Derek is currently taking up the entire thing. "Move over" he mumbles.

"Wow, you're so polite" he grumbles, shuffling over

Stiles doesn't reply, he just slides under the covers and flicks on his TV, putting on a Documentary about Space and how the planets interact with each other during different times of the year. It's actually surprisingly interesting and Stiles curls on his side as he watches intently, listening and absorbing all the information it's offering.

Soon, Derek puts down his book, stands and strips down to his boxers as well before getting under the duvet with the teen who shifts when he feels Derek staring at him rather than the TV.

"Do you actually enjoy shows like this?" he asks, completely bemused.

Stiles yawns before rolling over and putting his head onto Derek's shoulder like he had the night before – but his eyes don't leave the show. "Yeah, it's interesting" he replies shortly. Completely absorbed in how 'for the purpose of international treaties, outer space begins 100km above the Earth's sea level' – because only humans could be petty enough to need that territory line.

"Today was fun" he mumbles "dismissing the fact we were being followed... but it was fun"

"Yeah, it was" Derek nods slowly, his arm coming round Stiles' back to rest on his waist "even the kiss?"

Stiles bites his cheek so stop from laughing at how _nervous_ Derek sounds but he finds himself smile "Even the kiss" he agrees, putting an arm across the muscular chest and throwing his leg over Derek's to bring it closer to him. He feels Derek's lips graze his forehead and he smiles and shifts (it's totally NOT a snuggle) closer and yawns again.

"Kiss was good" he whispers sleepily, closing his eyes slowly.


	9. Chapter 9

Derek wakes him the next morning and hangs around in his room until the Sheriff goes to work and he goes down to making himself some breakfast while Stiles' showers. Half an hour later; Stiles comes (falls) down the stairs and drops his backpack by the front door before heading into the kitchen and he starts to dig around in the back of the cupboard.

"What are you doing?" Derek asks, pouring himself a second cup of coffee because he's going to be driving four teenagers to school – he's going to need all the coffee he can get.

"I hide Poptarts back here" he grunts, before making a sound of victory and emerging from the cupboard with a box in his hand. "My Dad isn't allowed Poptarts" he explains when Derek raises an eyebrow.

He watches as the teen puts a couple in the toaster "Why are you so obsessed with your Dad eating healthy?" he asks cautiously.

Stiles puts his hands on the counter, his back to Derek and he lets his shoulders sag forwards as his head hangs down. "It's just..." he sighs and Derek winces, wishing he'd never asked. "I-I I've lost one parent... I don't want to lose the other" he admits.

"Stiles" Derek says softly but suddenly the teen is turning round and giving him a big smile.

"It's okay" he grins "If I left my Dad to his own devices, he'd only eat pizza and TV Dinners"

The Alpha pushes his chair back as he stands and he comes to stand in front of Stiles; he puts a hand on the back of his head and presses a kiss to his forehead "You're a good kid, you Dad's lucky to have you"

"Please" he scoffs and the toaster pops up "everyone is lucky to have me – I'm adorable"

Derek laughs and moves away; rolling his eyes but not denying him that. "Hurry up, I'm going to get my car"

"Okay" he says, grabbing one of his Poptarts and shoving it into his mouth.

"You eat like you've not seen food in years" he grimaces "it's a little disgusting"

"Deal with it" he says, opening his mouth to show off the chewed food inside.

Derek scowls and he leaves. Stiles sighs and sits down where the man had previously sat. He finishes his breakfast, cleans his teeth and grabs his lunch money from the counter before grabbing his backpack and meeting Derek out in the Camaro.

"Hey, I called shotgun so don't let Erica kick me out, please?" he says, looking at Derek with huge, puppy dog.

He rolls his eyes and pushes the teens face away with a grin "Whatever"

"Come on" he whines as the Alpha starts the car and reverses out of the driveway. "I hate sitting between Boyd and Isaac... and they've been scenting me. Oh my god, Isaac would sit there and literally rub up on my face"

Derek snorts "Okay, I won't let Erica kick you out" he says, because from the sounds of it – his Beta's had gone a little overboard the last two days. He wasn't going to stop it because it was hilarious but he'd help out where he's involved.

Their first stop is Isaac's house and Stiles gets out to move the chair forward and he climbs in with a smile. Then they're off to Boyd's and he too, gets in without so much as a hello. But Stiles can feel his body tensing as they drive to Erica's and Derek reaches out a hand to the back of his neck – the way he had for the last two days; just a comforting gesture that seemed to make Stiles relax and it helped with the whole scent thing too.

Stiles can hear Isaac sniggering but he doesn't care because strong fingers are working out the knots in his neck like a fucking master. But when they pull to a stop in Erica's driveway and Stiles gets out and pushes the seat forward; she just looks at him expectantly.

"What?" he asks, still holding the door open.

"Well, get in then" she says, motioning to the car.

"Sorry Erica" Derek smirks, leaning over the passenger seat to peer up at her "Stiles call shotgun – you're riding in the back"

She stares at him like he's gone completely insane and then she whines "But-But I'm wearing a skirt"

Derek shrugs "We have time if you want to change"

"Fuck you," she snarls to Stiles before throwing her bag at Isaac's face and climbing in to sit between the two boys with her face like thunder. Stiles slides back in the car and glances at Derek with a worried expression before quietly (although everyone in the car can hear – but it's the point that he _tried_ to whisper) asking if Erica is going to kill him.

Derek laughs at him and pats his thigh before leaving his hand there "You should have thought about that before you demanded the seat"

Stiles spent the rest of the journey to school trying to ignore the fact that Erica was glaring daggers into his back and he's suddenly a little concerned for his safety. So much so that he keeps looking at Derek for some support and poking his hand occasionally to get his attention.

Eventually, Derek sighs "Erica, stop glaring at Stiles" he grumbles

"Asshole" she mutters and then turns her head to stare out of the window.

When they pull up at school, Stiles practically falls over himself to get out the car and then Derek is getting out and he's being a gentleman and helping Erica out of the car so that she doesn't flash the guys that are watching (just like they do every day). She punches Stiles in the arm – hard – and Derek turns round sharply.

"Don't hit him" he snaps and Erica's mouth falls open.

"What?" she gawps and Stiles smiles smugly "You're the one always throwing him up against things"

"So what, I said don't hit him" he lets out a low growl and his eyes flash red for a second before returning to their usual forest green.

"This is so unfair!" she yells "Just because you're dating doesn't mea–"

"We're not dating" Stiles interrupts

"Shut the fuck up" Erica growls and stops off.

Stiles looks around awkwardly, his eyes meeting Isaac's and they can't help but laugh when Boyd sighs deeply and shuffles after her, mumbling angrily about how he's always cleaning up everyone's shit.

"At least she's not scenting me" Stiles says brightly and Derek shake his head as he puts the passenger seat back up and closes the door – walking the two boys over to the rest of their group (minus Erica and Boyd).

Scott goes to give Stiles a hug but recoils from him when he gets close. "Holy shit, you _stink_"

"What?" Stiles panics "I showered this morning"

"No, you smell like him" Scott grimaces and purposefully glares at Derek as he buries his face into Allison's hair and breathes deeply.

"You smell fine to me," Danny smiles at him and then Allison and Lydia are nodding but Jackson is wearing the exact same expression as Scott.

Stiles is about to make some sarcastic comment about how Allison probably smells to the rest of them but a movement by the edge of the woods catches his eye. And when he looks at Derek, his face is pinched and he moves his hand to take Stiles' – bringing him closer as he lets out a low growl.

Stiles puts a hand on his chest, and looks up at him with big eyes "Calm down, they've not come any closer than they did last night" he says "and I've got these guys"

Derek looks at him and frowns before his eyes trail back up to where the shadow of a figure had been. The others are looking at them in confusion but pointedly not turning round, no matter how much Scott looks like he wants to.

"Stay with to him today" Derek says, letting go of his hand to wind it round his waist and pull the teen closer.

"I'm not a bab – You're going after them, aren't you" he says, standing up straighter. When Derek doesn't reply, Stiles' eyes narrow "Don't be an idiot. Their Alphas – a whole pack. You don't know their numbers. You can't fight them on your own"

"I don't care"

"Derek" he hisses, grabbing hold of the man's chin and forcing their eyes to meet "Promise me you won't go after them. You'll die. Promise me you won't"

"Alright" he growls after a few seconds, ripping his face out of the teen's grip.

"Say it"

"I promise" he grits out, looking less than impressed.

When Stiles turns back to the group, they're all looking at them with confused expressions – probably because one; they're practically cuddling (although, Stiles thinks that's a protection thing because it only started when Derek saw the possible threat) and two; Stiles just manhandled the Alpha and he's still got his hand.

"Well, that was sickening" Jackson mumbles and he leads Lydia away.

The rest of the group start walking towards the entrance and Derek keeps a tight grip on Stiles' waist. They all stop when they reach the door and Stiles gives the Alpha a soft smile, says goodbye and then goes to walk away.

Just as he gets out of reach, Derek grabs his wrist and spins him back round (and Stiles totally _doesn't_ squeak – or, it's a manly squeak at least) and the he crushes their lips together. It's easier than it was last night, less pressure (ignoring the fact that half the pack is watching them) but Stiles just smiles and puts his hands either side of Derek's face and when their oxygen is exhausted pulls away. Derek mutters one last goodbye and then he's gone – his car speeding away down the road.

"What the fuck was that?" Scott asks, staring wide eyed with his eyebrows furrowed in horror.

"I-I don't even know" he mumbles back, pushing past them all and running towards his locker because his heart is beating so fast right now and he doesn't want to be surrounded by werewolves who can hear that at this very second.


	10. Chapter 10

Apparently, it only takes the time from Stiles leaving his friends to walking into his first class for the entire pack to find out that he and Derek kissed. Because when he walks into Chemistry, Jackson falls off his seat laughing and Erica is glaring at him even more than before.

He takes a seat beside Danny and he can feel Lydia poking him in the back and then she starts loudly saying his name until he gives in and turns.

"What?" he asks

"Was it good" she replies, raising a perfectly shaped eyebrow.

Stiles rubs his temples "What?" he repeats

"Kissing Derek" she clarifies "was it as good as it looked?"

"Looked" he asked, "you weren't even there, how would you know how it looked?"

Lydia is suddenly clicking through her phone and she holds it up; it's a photograph of the two of them, lips locked and arms around each other. Stiles unconsciously licks his lips and then frowns.

"Where the hell did you get that?" he demanded loudly.

"I have my sourc–" she starts

"Allison" Stiles growls and Lydia blushes and it's weird because usually, when Lydia blushes, Stiles can't tear his eyes away but now he doesn't care – he's more interested in glaring daggers at Allison. "You suck, Allison" he yells loudly, catching the attention of the entire room.

She just grins and wiggles her fingers in a wave "You apparently swallow, Stiles" she shoots back and Jackson's started laughing again; tears running down his cheeks as he struggles to breathe.

"I hate you all" he grumbles, turning back around and pulling out his cell to send a quick message to the Alpha.

[To:/ Derek]  
Allison took a pic of us kissing. Erica is angry and Jackson is being mean.

It's about fifteen minutes later, when he's meant to be listening to whatever Harris is talking about when he feels his phone buzz in his pocket. He discreetly pulled it out and held his cell under the table as he read the message.

What do you want me to do about it?  
[From:/ Derek]

Stiles resists the urge to groan and/or smash his face into the table.

[To:/ Derek]  
This is your fault. Fix it

He's left waiting for a reply until about five minutes before the end of class and he decides to leave it until the end because Derek kept him waiting long enough (not that he was childish at all)

So when they're leaving class, walking towards their second lesson. Stiles takes out his phone and stops to read the text.

How is this my fault? You said that the 'kiss was good'. And I've seen that pic – good.  
[From:/ Derek]

Stiles, again, has to stop himself from groaning (but this time it's for a _completely_ different reason)

[To:/ Derek]  
Can't you just go all Alpha on them? Make them play nice with the human? Also, pic is good.

He feels an arm link with his and he glances up to see Erica, her teeth sharpened _just_ enough that it would look natural at a glance but Stiles knows what he's looking for and those fangs are _not_ normal. So, right now, he's a little terrified for his life and Erica is smiles – yeah, he's _a lot_ terrified for his life.

"Hi" he says, glancing around for any other pack member to come save him but he sees no one – despite Derek telling them to stay with him (then again, Erica is pack, so they're not disobeying).

"Hello" she replies "So, I was thinking... that since you and Derek are now a _thing_, it makes sense that you get to ride shotgun. But perhaps we can make a deal?"

He eyes her cautiously "What kind of deal?"

"I get to ride shotgun every Wednesday" she says.

Stiles thinks for a second "That... that's actually kind of reasonable." He answers nodding in surprise "Why? What's special about Wednesdays?"

"It's my skirt day" she replies sheepishly "It's easier not to flash the world when I'm not clambering over Boyd and Isaac."

Stiles nods "You have yourself a deal" he smiles, holding out his hand which she shakes before continuing their walk down the corridors.

"So, you and Derek, huh?" she asks, that evil grin returning.

Stiles throws his head back in aspiration "Oh, not you too!" he whines "we're not dating... we're not really, anything... we were getting followed last night by the Alphas and he kissed me goodnight. And I don't even _know_ why he kissed me today but Allison took a fucking photograph and sent it to everyone and I can't get away from it!"

Erica chuckles and pulls out her cell, showing him the photograph before putting it away again "It's not so bad... I kissed him once. I kinda forced it on him but it was good. But you didn't answer Lydia – is it as good as it looks?"

He bites his lips and then smiles shyly at the floor "Better" he mutters and she cackles.

"Priceless" she replies, steering him into their classroom and they sit down next to each other.

Again, Stiles feels his cell buzz and he pulls it out, reading the message from Derek.

I'm an Alpha, not a parent. This clearly isn't what's actually wrong – What's wrong?  
[From:/ Derek]

Stiles blinks at his phone for several minutes and his fingers are replying before his brain catches up but he hits send, and has to read his message because he has no idea what he actually wrote.

[To:/ Derek]  
I'm confused. It's been two days and you kissed me – twice and you're Derek Hale. You don't kiss people like me.

The reply is instant.

What do you mean, people like you?  
[From:/ Derek]

[To:/ Derek]  
You know, scrawny, weird looking teenagers with ADHD and prone to panic attacks.

He sighs, he knows he sounds like he's throwing himself a pity party but hey, he's in an emotional turmoil and he's allowed to feel sorry for himself that a super hot guy keeps kissing him and he doesn't understand why.

You can't tell me what/who I want.  
[From:/ Derek]

This time, Stiles gives into the urge and hits his forehead against the desk, making Erica laugh and their teacher to raise an eyebrow at him but she says nothing.

[To:/ Derek]  
I'm not trying to upset you. I want to understand.

He rubs his temples again, willing his headache to go the hell away because he doesn't need this right now – what he needs is to go get into his bed and go to sleep for a couple of years. Until all of this awkwardness has passed and there is no longer a pack of Alpha's wanting to rip him apart.

Well, apparently, I like stupid teenagers with ADHD and panic attacks because I can't get them out of my fucking mind. And their scent is all over me and it's driving me crazy.  
[From:/ Derek]

Stiles throws his cell on the desk with a squeak, as if it's just given him an electric shock. But then he's scrambling to pick it up again.

[To:/ Derek]  
This is so messed up. I just needed your scent and then all of these feelings came into it and they make me feel sick. A good kind of sick – I think.

I'm glad I make you want to vomit?  
[From:/ Derek]

[To:/ Derek]  
That's not what I meant. Look, I'm still confused. What are we going to do about this?

He has to wait a while for the next answer and he's jittery and his leg is bouncing and he's wiggling every few seconds – chewing his pen. The buzz makes him jump but he's grabbing his phone again, flipping Erica off when he sees her laughing.

You're always confused. And I don't know, we're doing alright – right?  
[From:/ Derek]

[To:/ Derek]  
Nothing wrong with being confused.

He grins like an idiot because two days. It took them two days of being constantly together for something to happen. Stiles can't help a little thought at the back of his mind, one that tells him that Derek doesn't really like him – that it's just been so long since he got near anyone and he's craving any kind of contact (even if it's Stiles he takes it from). The teen frowns at that and hunches his shoulders so that the collar of the leather jacket comes up close to his nose and he breathes in the man's scent – the vanilla of his shampoo, freshly mown grass as well as a faint smell of Stiles' room. His cell buzzes again.

Whatever, idiot.  
[From:/ Derek]

He takes in a sharp breath and Erica is looking at him again, wondering what could possibly be wrong to make him do that. She looks a little worried so he points to his cell with a sheepish grin and an apologetic look in his eyes.

[To:/ Derek]  
Was that an affectionate or were you being mean?

He waits. But not for long.

You want to go out tonight?  
[From:/ Derek]

"Hey Erica" he whispers, so low that even he barely hears himself but she's turning to him a little "I think he just asked me on a date" he says happily.

"Holy crap, Stiles! That's amazing" she yells; leaning over to high-five him.

"MR STILINSKI – MISS REYES!" their teacher abruptly shouts "I've had quite enough of both of you today. Get out of my classroom. Now"

Erica and Stiles pretend to be ashamed of themselves as they gather their things and head out the door but as soon as it slams shut behind them – they both start rolling with laughter. Overall, Stiles thinks, this has been a pretty epic start to the day.


	11. Chapter 11

By lunch, Stiles is strongly resisting the urge to punch Jackson in the face. Because every, single time he sees him, Jackson will start howling with laughter and walk away saying something about him and Derek.

He knows he shouldn't be this angry but he is. And Stiles doesn't know if it's because he never fought against the kiss or because he liked it so much. But still, by lunchtime, Stiles strongly believes that Jackson deserves to be punched.

It's sunny, so they decide to take a seat outside on one of the picnic tables; Scott sits on one side of him and Erica on the other (Isaac had made a jump to sit beside him but Stiles was ecstatic when Erica sat down – he still hasn't forgiven him for the face rubbing). They eat their lunch quickly and then start quietly discussing various Werewolf things that Stiles really can't pay attention to at the moment.

There's a familiar prickling at the back of his neck, like a bug is crawling around on his skin. He reached up to rub it but instead of finding a bug, he feels all the hairs standing on end. Yes, he _defiantly_ remembers this feeling from the night before. He doesn't dare glance round, so to avoid suspicion, he leans forward and kicks Boyd under the table to get his attention – he receives a glare but he's got what he wants.

"Be subtle but is there someone watching from behind me?" he asks quietly.

Boyd's eyes scan the surrounding area and then his mouth goes into a tight line "Yes."

"Describe them. We've not had an ID on any of them yet" Stiles pulls out his cell and opens a draft message to write notes in and he types as Boyd speaks.

"Female, mid 20's, dark skin, long dark hair," he frowns and then winces suddenly "Stiles... her eyes are red"

The entire table has gone silent now and they're looking at the two boys. Stiles nods at Boyd and puts his phone on the table before looking around the table – they look confused but completely alert.

"Nice job" Stiles comments "Listen, me and Derek went out last night–"

"Their first date" Erica chimes in and he glares at her.

"–and we were being watched in the diner. Derek recognised a female's scent from my room. There were two of them and they followed us back to my house, and she was here this morning."

"They're getting careless" Jackson comments "If they're being seen then they know we're onto them"

He frowns and Scott rubs his back "We'll protect you. Derek is with you whenever you aren't in school and we're here when you are. Nothing is going to happen" he promises.

Stiles allows his head to hit on the table "Why is it always me?" he groans "why can't someone target you guys for a change?"

"Jackson tried to kill all of us" Isaac says brightly and then his face falls "Sorry, Jackson"

The boy shrugs "It's true."

"In his defence, he was under the control of a psycho!" Allison grimaces.

"Guys, we're dealing with Stiles' problem at the moment" Danny mutters, petting his head. "C'mon, these guys won't let you down"

"Course we won't!" Isaac smiles softly as the teen lifts his head "but I think you should send Derek that description and tell him you're being watched still"

Stiles shakes his head with a frown "I'll wait until later. If I text him now, he'll either go after them or he'll come here and demand I get in his car" he says "I'll tell him on the way home"

The bell ringing signifies the end of lunch and they walk back as one large huddle towards the school again, Scott has an arm around Stiles' shoulders and is twitching with how alert he's being. It would be amusing to watch if he wasn't keeping an eye out for a pack of people who want to kill Stiles. Painfully kill him with claws and teeth and pain.

* * *

By the time school ends, Stiles is almost reluctant to leave the building (something that has never happened before) because he knows he can make the school into a fortress – they'd done it when Peter was attacking. He knew he could defend himself from there, but at the same time, he knows that Derek is on the other side of the door. Waiting for him.

He'd seen the Camaro pull into the parking lot from the second-story window he was staring out of while he was meant to be paying attention. Derek was probably waiting right by the steps for him but what if it was that woman? Or another of the pack that they'd not had any contact with yet?

He thinks about calling Derek to ask him to meet him by his locker. He could make some excuse... or just ramble until the other man gets sick of his voice and he hangs up. That would work. But as he thinks further about the plan, Erica is linking arms with him and from the other side; Isaac grins – on the other side of Erica is also Boyd – he curses them for a second, mostly for their insistence of touching but then his body is unwinding, only slightly – enough to allow his legs to walk out the doors.

His body is still tense as they reach their Alpha. He's tried (nothing new there) but he's jittery too, like he's been electrocuted and all that energy needs an outlet. Derek frowns at him and immediately reaches a hand out to cup his cheek and run his thumb along Stiles' cheekbone. His hand then moves around to the back of his neck and he uses it to pull Stiles into his embrace – safe arms wrapping around the small body. Stiles feels the tension melting away and he pushes his face into Derek's chest with a sigh of contentment as fingers thread into his hair.

"You guys want a lift home?" Derek says, talking to the other three.

"Please" Isaac replies, "I think it's going to rain"

Stiles lifts his head enough so he can see Derek hand over his keys and a jerk of his head telling them to go get in the car. After they leave Derek pushes his nose against Stiles' neck and sniffs.

"What's wrong?" he asks "You're not happy"

Stiles sighs again and tightens his grip around the man's waist; looking up with wide eyes. "They haven't left." He explains "We saw the woman it lunch, Boyd gave me a description which is progress... but I've been tense and I'm exhausted"

Derek presses his lips to Stiles' forehead "You can give me the description. And when we get to yours, you should have a nap" he says

Stiles nods "Then we'll go out?"

Derek frowns "I thought you didn't want to go... you didn't reply to the text"

Stiles' stomach drops "What? Oh god, I'm sorry! Me and Erica got kicked out of class and I must have forgotten" he rushes out "But I do, want to go out - that is"

Derek's lips twitch at the edges as he tries not to smile. "Okay"

Stiles offers him a huge grin and then takes a deep breath _**'It's now or never'**_.

He leans forward onto his tiptoes and presses their lips together in a chaste kiss. He returns his feet to the floor and looks everywhere that isn't the mass of pure muscle in front of him. But apparently, Derek has different ideas as he grips Stiles' chin and tilts his head back – forcing their eyes to meet. And, to the teen's surprise, Derek is _smiling_. Like, a genuinely happy smile.

"Thanks" he whispers "Kiss was good"

Stiles blushes and pulls a displeased face "Are you really quoting what I said last night?"

"Yes. Yes I am" he looks oddly proud.

"Can I go take that nap now?" he asks and Derek laughs before pulling away and throwing his arm around Stiles' shoulders as they walk. "By the way, Erica gets shotgun on Wednesday's because it's 'skirt day'"

Derek smirks "Okay, so you're in the back?"

"Yeah" he replies and Stiles decides he can push his luck a little and he nudged Derek's in the ribs with his elbow "you going to miss being able to touch me"

He snorts in response and doesn't reply at all. When they reach the car Erica get out and pulls the passenger seat forward so that Stiles can climb in the back. Derek's already starting the car by the time she closes her door and he shoots a grin at Stiles in the rear-view mirror before turning to give Boyd his 'serious face'.

"Tell me about this woman" he says and as Boyd starts talking, Derek pulls out of the parking lot – heading towards Erica's.


	12. Chapter 12

Stiles nearly falls flat on his face when he goes to crawl out of the Camaro, but Derek is there instantly – holding his elbow and taking his backpack. As they walk to the door, the Alpha points his keys over his shoulder and locks his car before places his hand on the small of Stiles' back. The teen manages to get the front door open and he toes off his shoes before making his way to the sofa and flopping onto it, in the most ungraceful way he could manage.

His body burned with exhaustion, which confused him because he hadn't done anything too strenuous today. He voices this as Derek removes his boots and placed Stiles' backpack next to them before moving to stand in from of the teen. He pulls Stiles up and the carefully starts pushing the leather jacket from his shoulders.

"You didn't sleep very well last night" Derek says softly, holding Stiles' weight as he removes one of his hands from the sleeve "I think you were having a nightmare"

Stiles frowns – people weren't supposed to know about that. Seventeen year old boys aren't supposed to have nightmares. He feels his heart rate pick up and Derek's gentle fingers stop briefly to glance at him before he goes back to work, finally taking the jacket and hanging it over the doorframe. Stiles feels sick. He feels pathetic and weak and so, so _human_.

"It's okay" Derek whispers, running a hand through his long hair gently "I get them too"

"You do?" Stiles blinks, looking up at him through heavily lidded eyes.

Derek takes a seat on the sofa – sitting sideways and folding his legs up underneath him. "Of course, it's very common for people who have had contact with the supernatural." He says simply "Isaac suffers quite bad... but I think those are memories from his father"

Stiles watches as his eyes flash red for a second and his jaw clenches, "He's happy with you" the teen reminds him and Derek still doesn't look pleased but he's nodding and clenching and unclenching his fists periodically. "You're a good Alpha"

Derek looks at him for a second "I'm not that good" he mutters and he continues before Stiles can open his mouth to spout some random crap that most probably would have nothing to do with their conversation whatsoever. "My Mom and Dad were great Alphas. My Dad was human but he had as much control over everyone as my Mom did."

Stiles smiles at him because he was never even sure that Derek knew what 'sharing' meant, but here they are – at awkwardly close on Stiles' sofa – knees touching and Derek telling him about his family. The only thing that saddens the teen is that Derek talks about them in the past-tense. He knows it crazy because they died a long time ago but it's still tragic to hear the bitter-sweet nostalgia in Derek's voice as he says 'were' instead of 'are'.

Stiles decides that it's best he doesn't reply. Instead he poked at Derek's folded legs and wrapped his hands around the muscular calves – pulling on them until Derek allowed Stiles to stretch his legs out. Stiles lets go in favour of settling himself between them and he lays on his side, head on Derek's stomach as his hand grips the fabric of his t-shirt. There are fingers in his hair immediately, and Stiles _swears_ he hears Derek chuckle before tangling their legs together.

"Mm" Stiles mumbles as he settles closer "You're warm"

"You're needy" Derek replies; he sounds cold but the teen can hear the underlying amusement and fondness there.

"You don't mind" he manages, letting out a sigh as he finally gets comfortable.

"I guess not" he says. "Get some sleep"

* * *

"Hey, Idiot" he hears "Wake up"

Stiles makes a series of mumbles and opens one eye – only to realise that his face is obscenely close to Derek's crotch. He lets out a squeal before sitting up and staring at Derek's amused face.

"Sorry" he mumbles, stretching his arms above his head.

He shrugs "You've been asleep for an hour, I figured you won't sleep tonight if you sleep now"

Stiles eyes him cautiously. "That's... strangely caring" he says, raising an eyebrow.

"It's been known to happen" he smirks before sitting up and rolling his neck. "Where'd you want to go out?"

"I don't mind," he smiles softly, ducking his head.

He hesitates and then rubs the back of his neck "This place just opened... an ice-skating rink"

Stiles nods enthusiastically "Yeah! I've never gone ice-skating before!"

Derek stands and walks towards the door without another word, he pulls on his boots and then he bends down to tie them. Stiles follows his lead, pushing his feet into his sneakers and going to put on Derek's jacket again. Without a word, the two of them left the house and got into Derek's car. Stiles switched on the radio and then starts to sing along quietly to the One Direction song playing.

Derek frowns at him, "Why do you know the words?" he asks

Stiles shrugs with a grin "Everyone knows the words. They're not difficult to learn them" he laughs and then points at Derek as the song comes to an end "THAT'S WHAT MAKES YOU BEAUTIFUL!"

Derek shakes his head but smirks nevertheless, clearly amused by the other boy. "Have you ever ice-skated before?"

"No, I've rollerbladed though" he answers "have you?"

Derek's mouth shifts into a thin line "When I was younger" he says stiffly "me and Laura"

Stiles tries to keep his face neutral; not let his grimace show. Since knowing the older man, Stiles has learnt to not reply when he talks of his family – instead, he doesn't reply, he knows to either ignore it or offer some kind of comfort.

So, Stiles reaches out and takes Derek's hand, squeezing it slightly and receiving a soft smile in return.

They remain in silence until Derek parks the car and then they go into the building, feeling the temperature drop as soon as they walk through the door. Derek threw an arm around his shoulders and pulled him closer and Stiles leant his head against his muscled arm. Derek brought their tickets and they collected their shoes before heading out onto the ice.

Stiles holds onto the railing and tries not to let his legs collapse underneath him. Derek guides backwards, smirking at Stiles as he passes.

"Okay, this isn't fair" Stiles groans.

"What isn't?" he asks, turning in a circle to come back around to Stiles' side.

"It's not fair that you're _this_ attractive and good at _everything_." He attempts to let go of the barrier and then flails before falling against the Alpha's chest. He looks up and smiles sheepishly as the other holds him upright.

"You think I'm attractive?" Derek asks, staring down in bewilderment.

Stiles blushes and then scoffs "I'd have to be blind not to think that. And even if I was blind, your voice is hot."

"What if you were blind _and_ deaf?" he asks, the edges of his lips twitching.

Stiles laughs "You still smell pretty good"

Derek allows the smile to grace his lips before he leans forward and captures Stiles' lips "You're alright" he replies gently before moving back and taking Stiles' hands. "Right, now move like you're rollerblading and try not to fall flat on your face"

"You're lucky you're pretty" he says, following the instructions.

They start to move together, Stiles grinning up at him until Derek abruptly releases his hands and Stiles falls flat on his ass – arms flailing wildly. He shakes with laughter as he attempts to stand before falling down once again.

Derek shakes his head fondly before offering his hand out. Stiles takes it and then pulls down sharply – pushing his foot into Derek's – causing the Alpha's legs to slip out from underneath him. He landed on top of the teen with an 'umpf' and the air escapes Stiles' lungs as he laughs loudly.

"This is like that time with Jackson" he manages "except, it's backwards... and we can move and–"

He's cut off when Derek's lips crush against his hard. When he pulls back, Stiles sees that the other man's eyes are red and his teeth slightly spiked as he grinned widely.

Derek jumps up and looks down at him "If you trip me again... I'll leave you to the Alpha pack"

Stiles' heart stutters and he lets Derek help him to his feet again. "No, you wouldn't"

All he gets in return is a soft smile.


	13. Chapter 13

A week and a half had passed before Stiles even knew what was happening. He went to school, riding shotgun in Derek's car – except Wednesdays – which meant that Stiles got to play with the radio (and to everyone's surprise, Derek let him). The Beta's toned down on the scenting but they still liked to hug him and Erica had become far more affectionate than anyone thought she could ever be. There were many more sighting of the female Alpha and they also identified several more (such as the twins that had joined the school).

After discovering the existence of Aiden and Ethan – the entire pack had become far more protective than Stiles had ever thought possible. They seemed to think that if Stiles were alone for more than two minutes, they'd rip him apart (which was probably true) and Derek was just as bad. The two of them had gotten into a pattern of when Stiles' Dad left for work, they'd eat breakfast and then Derek would go get the car, but he was now insisting that Stiles walk to the car with him.

The teen knew that his friends were doing all they could to keep him safe but that didn't stop him feeling suffocated. His and Derek's afternoon activities had also come to a stop, unless they did something as a group (such as bowling or seeing a movie) but that left Stiles moving between school and his house – and for a boy who suffers with ADHD – that's not an ideal situation.

It's a Saturday and Stiles' Dad had left for work over an hour ago and Stiles was practically tearing his hair out trying to get Derek to agree to an outing. His Father had asked him to go to the Grocery store to fill their seriously lacking cupboards and fridge, but of course, Derek believed it was 'too dangerous' for Stiles to go to the Grocery store – which was their current argument.

"Derek, I'm not going to be crushed by a stack of cans" he yells

"You know that's not what's going to kill you" he growls back, his shoulder tight and eyes turning red.

"Look, either we go shopping like my Dad asked or we tell him that I'm being targeted by a group of killer puppies" he throws his hands in the air. "I'm sick of lying to my Dad for your benefit. He knows all about you and I still have to lie to him"

Derek resists the urge to slam Stiles' face into the wall he's leaning against, instead he takes a calming breath and attempts to get a handle on his transformation "I know you don't... but I don't want you to get hurt either" he grits his teeth, the sound of the scraping filling the room.

That causes Stiles to flinch – he can hear the underlying meaning – he doesn't want anyone close to get hurt anymore because of him... last time he failed, his family got burnt alive. "Derek, I'm not a prisoner," he mutters softly, stepping away from the wall and moving forward slightly "I need to get out of this house, I can't stand it"

Derek shakes his head and then sighs "This is a stupid idea" he reaches up to rub his temples before staring at Stiles, his eyes back to their forest green. "We're taking my car"

The teens face lights up "We can go?" he squeals and then throws his arms around Derek's neck in a hug "This is why I like you best!"

Derek's chest rumbles but no chuckle comes out, he just wraps his arms around the small body. Stiles grins as he runs to go put his shoes on, like a child who's just been told they are going to the park. He's got Derek's leather jacket and his sneakers on, sliding the money the Sheriff gave him into his pocket before the Alpha even reaches for his keys. They get into the car and head to the store, Derek's eyes darting between looking at the surrounding area and staring at the mirrors to see if they're being followed.

"Will you calm down?" Stiles says "we're going shopping, not walking into their cave – or wherever they live"

Derek shoots him a dirty look but doesn't reply as he resumes his watch. When they arrive at the store, there is far less cars than there usually is on a Saturday afternoon but Stiles doesn't really pay it much attention as he gets out and closes his door – waiting by the hood as Derek locks the car.

He lets Derek stalk past him before running and jumping onto his back; wrapping his legs around the man's waist and arms around his shoulders. Derek doesn't pay him any attention, he simply continues to walk, getting a cart and walking into the store like he _hasn't_ got a Seventeen-year-old boy attached to him.

"What do we need to get?" he asks stiffly, eyeing the security guard by the door as they pass.

"The works" Stiles answers, before pushing a kiss to the man's cheek "will you stop being a a grumpy-Sourwolf?"

"I'm not being grumpy and _don't_ call me that" he spits.

"Look, we'll get this done and then go home? Okay?" Stiles rolls his eyes and puts his hand over Derek's heart and resting his head onto his shoulder.

"Okay" he replied eventually, turning his head slightly to push their lips together quickly before moving down the first aisle.

Stiles directs, telling the Alpha what to pick up and he also instructs him to buy various things for the pack (like a packet of strawberries for Isaac because they're his favourite, the crunchy kind of peanut butter for Boyd and the expensive kind of organic chocolate that Erica eats). Derek turns his head slightly and raises his eyebrows in surprise.

"How do you know all of this?" he asks quietly.

Stiles shrugs "I notice what they like and they always look really happy when I get them things"

"You don't hate to..." he whispers, walking forward slowly.

"I like taking care of you guys" he answers, and then he points at the bakery section and Derek steers the cart in that direction. "Get those Éclairs'" he says.

Derek picks them up and stares at them "I thought your Dad isn't allowed unhealthy food" he smirks.

Stiles snorts "They're for you, Dumbass"

"You don't have to get my anything" he says, moving to put them down again but Stiles stretches forward awkwardly and takes them – throwing them into the cart. "Thanks" he mutters

"Anytime, Sourwolf"

Derek frowns "How do you even know I like them?"

"You know we got coffee after ice-skating the other day?" he says and Derek nods "you spent the entire time we were at the counter staring at the Éclairs"

"And you noticed that?" he blinks, eyebrows going up again.

"Of course I did" he grins.

They continue around the store, and they're once again arguing – this time over Cereal – when they're interrupted by a familiar laugh.

"I thought I heard you two" Lydia smiles and Jackson gives a small nod from behind her.

"Hey, what are you two doing here?" Stiles asks.

"They're shopping, idiot" Derek grumbles "it's a store"

Lydia raises one of her perfectly shaped eyebrows at them and Stiles rolls his eyes "Ignore him, he's being grumpy because I made us leave the house"

Jackson snorts "Is that why you're riding him like he's a horse?"

"Nah, I couldn't be bothered to walk and it's fun to boss him around"

Lydia laughs again and flicks her hair back over her shoulder "So, everyone is coming to my house tonight, we're going to watch movies – human's are getting drunk and they're sleeping, you guys in?"

Stiles grins "Yes!" at the exact same time that Derek says "No."

She looks between the two of them before glancing at Jackson who shrugs.

"C'mon Derek!" Stiles whines "you say I'm not safe out the house but what's more safe than being in a house with the pack"

Derek grits his teeth and Lydia jumps in "He's right, we just think that we need to have some fun... we've all been really stressed this week. Besides, it's not like they'll make a move with everyone there"

"Please~" he sings into the Alpha's ear.

"FINE!" he snaps and glares at the teen when he presses a kiss to his neck

"Thank you!" he says happily before turning back to Lydia "what time?"

She reaches over and takes a couple large bags of Nacho's and puts them in the nearly overflowing cart that Jackson is pushing "Whenever, we're just getting some food. You guys eat so much"

"Will there be curly fries?" he asks hopefully.

"Already in the cart" she answers with a smile.

They say their goodbyes, the two boys promising to come over after all the shopping is packed away and then they go their separate directions. Derek radiating his displeasure by scowling at everyone they pass and Stiles has to start offering people apologetic looks on the Alpha's behalf because the elderly are looking more scared by the second.

Derek is still glaring as the purchase the food and then load it into the back of the Camaro. The drive home is awkward due to the fact that the older man bluntly refused to let Stiles put the radio on, under the pretence that the teen will start singing and his ears can't handle that. When they pull into the driveway, Stiles is still bouncing with excitement as he piles Derek's arms high with nearly all the bags and only keeping two for himself because 'I'm going to open the door'.

And Derek just sits as Stiles begins to place each item in it's designated cupboard. He then rings his Dad and leaves a message of where he'll be that night before he drags the Alpha up the stairs to go pack them both a change of clothes into his backpack.

"This is going to be awesome" he squeals as he throws in a pair of – hopefully – clean jeans and then he starts digging in his wardrobe again "Do you want grey shirt with the long sleeves or the black one that makes your chest look good?"

"Black one"


	14. Chapter 14

The sun is just starting to set by the time they're knocking on the front door of Lydia's obviously large house, Scott lets them in and leads the way into the dining room where everyone is just finishing up as they lay out all the food that had been purchased earlier that day.

Lydia is arranging muffins on a fancy silver platter as Erica scolds Isaac for shovelling Skittles into his mouth and Boyd watches them with a raised eyebrow. Jackson is stood beside Danny, discussing Lacrosse as Allison walks in with a large bowl of cookies and Scott gravitates to her side; kissing her cheek.

Stiles leans towards Derek slightly "Do you ever wonder if we're secretly being filmed? Because we'd make a great TV show"

Derek snorts as Lydia announces that everyone can dig in and then Derek pushes Stiles towards the table and puts a plate in his hands.

They all pile their plates (or several plates in the Wolves cases) high with various food (and nearly empting the table) and then they retreat to the lounge and spread out over the many sofas and the blankets and pillows that have been spread around on the floor. Stiles stuffs his mouth full of curly fries and then nearly spits them out again when Erica pushes Scott off the sofa so that she can sit besides Boyd.

Derek stands in the doorway, looking around the room fondly as his pack eat, laugh and fight over what movie they're going to watch first. He finishes his plate of pizza quickly before leaning over to grab a muffin and when he turns back he finds Stiles staring at him, a lazy smile on his face.

"Hey Sourwolf" he calls "can you get me some brownies?"

Derek rolls his eyes before grabbing a handful of the brownie slices and taking them over to the boy on the floor. "Don't call me that" he says as he drops them onto the completely clear plate (seriously, was this kid a vacuum?).

Stiles catches his hand and tugs on it slightly "Sit down" he mutters, sliding along as Derek complies and he leans back against the pillows, shifting awkwardly as he feels everyone staring at him but soon he's comfortable and he's picking apart his muffin while trying _not_ to watch Stiles demolish the brownies.

Soon, their plates at in the dishwasher, the food is entirely gone (because both Scott and Jackson were having a silent competition of who could eat the most) and they were all huddled around the lounge again. However, Stiles and Derek are sharing the two seater, Isaac, Danny, Lydia and Jackson are squashed onto the three-seater while Erica is sat on Boyd's lap in the armchair and Allison and Scott occupy the floor space.

The lights are off; the room being lit by the flashing images of Iron Man as it plays on the huge TV. Stiles does his best not to comment through-out the entire film; but apparently, sitting still besides Derek and trying to remain silent is a bad combination for the boy because every minute of so – one of his limbs gives an involuntary twitch. At first, Derek had found this highly amusing but after the third time for Stiles accidently kicking him, he'd started to get more than a little annoyed.

"Will you stop that?" he asks quietly, glaring down at him.

"I can't" Stiles whines loudly, "it's not my fault!"

"Is he doing the twitch thing?" Scott chimes in and Derek nods, looking less than impressed "yeah, that happens when he has to sit still"

"Sorry..." he mumbles at the Alpha.

Derek rolls his eyes and turns his attention back to the movie, but he's distracted about five minutes later when Stiles gently takes his hand and turns it over and he starts to use his finger to draw invisible patterns on the rough skin. Derek watches him and notices that now he's distracted; his limbs aren't jerking randomly and he smiles softly, because slowly, he's starting to figure out the boy's brain.

"Sorry" Stiles mutters again after nearly twenty minutes, he drops Derek's hand and places his own in his lap; like a child who's been scalded.

Derek frowns, missing the contact so he reaches out and turn sideways, urging the teen to sit between his legs and lean back on him. They'd gotten used to this position – it was how they watched TV together after school, how Stiles napped if he needed and sometimes when they're in Stiles' bed, reading books just before they go to sleep.

He settles in and Derek's arms wind around his waist, putting his hands onto Stiles' stomach; the palms facing up towards the ceiling so that the teen can resume his drawing. Stiles looks back at him with a smile and he mouths the words 'thank you' to him before the teen snuggles back into his chest and he starts running his fingertips over Derek's palms, wrists and up his arms.

It comfortable. Being in a room with the pack, watching movies and just spending time together, like a family. It isn't long before Stiles is shifting so that his mouth is next to Derek's ear.

"Is this what it was like with your family?" he asks carefully "just sitting around, doing nothing... but knowing that they're there?"

"Yeah" he nods.

"It's nice" he smiles.

"I miss it but this... this is good" Derek manages, his jaw tight as he tries not to think of his family.

Stiles returns his head to Derek's shoulder and threads their fingers together – pulling Derek's arms tighter around his own waist in an attempt of comfort – in return, Derek presses his lips to Stiles' temple. Before turning their attention back to the movie as Tony Stark tells the world that he's Iron Man and the screen goes black for the credits to roll.

"I love that film" Stiles says immediately, turning his head to look at the others.

"I'm actually surprised you managed to shut up for most of it" Scott replies brightly and then he turns to Allison "usually, he'll come out with some trivia about the movie or the actors that no one should know"

"Did you know that Stan Lee based the character of Tony Stark around a man called Howard Hughes?" Stiles grins widely.

"Like that... why do you know that?" Scott sighs, throwing his hands in the air dramatically.

"The occasional bout of insomnia combined with a laptop that has internet access?" he shrugs and Derek laughs, pressing his face into Stiles' hair.

"You two are ridiculous," Jackson frowns and the others murmur in agreement.

At first, Derek thinks he's talking to Scott and Stiles but then he realises that the statement was directed at him and the teen in his arms. The Alpha just raises his eyebrow and ignores him but it seems that everyone had their own opinions on them and this was apparently, the time for sharing (much to Derek's displeasure).

"Seriously, the amount of sexual tension around you two is awful" Allison puts in "I can practically smell it on you without the super nose."

"She's right. Will you two either fuck or start dating because it's actually painful" Erica frowns.

"But if you date – don't break up... it'll be like choosing between Mom and Dad!" Isaac says, pulling himself out from under Danny's arm to look at the two of them "And that's a decision I'm not willing to make"

"Wouldn't you just go with Derek," Lydia asks, sounding interested "because he's your Alpha?"

Isaac frowns "Yeah, but on the other hand... Stiles lets us talk to him and he buys us things and he gives us hugs... like a Mom!"

Stiles' face burns red "So, where's that drink you were talking about Lydia?" he asks loudly, attempting to distract them from this topic because he is _not_ the pack Mom.

She stands up and runs into the kitchen before coming back with various bottles and four glasses. "There's no point in wasting good alcohol on people who can't get drunk" she explains and she hands round the glasses to the humans and them fills them to the top with a clear liquid (that Stiles assumes is Vodka). He lifts it to his lips and lets the drink burn its way down his throat before settling in his stomach, leaving a pleasantly warm feeling there.

"You're going to get hammered, aren't you?" Derek asks in his ear.

"That's the plan, Batman!" he laughs, turning his head to press their lips together.

"Careful Derek, he gets hand-sy when he's drunk" Scott chuckles.

"Mm, somehow, I don't think he'll mind" Erica smirks, throwing a wink over at the two.


	15. Chapter 15

It's approximately an hour later and the smell of alcohol is burning Derek's nose to the extent that he's gone and opened a window. Erica and Boyd were still curled up in the armchair; talking quietly with their faces pressed together. Isaac has retreated to sit with Scott and Jackson whilst Derek stood by the window, allowing the fresh air to wash over him as he watched the other four.

Lydia had turned on some music and she and Allison were holding hands and dancing around in the middle of the room, laughing and smiling. Danny and Stiles were sat together on the sofa; involved of a – never ending – game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock, to which the loser of each round does a shot. All four humans, to say the least, were extremely drunk (far passed the point of tipsy and more into the realm of 'let-try-and-do-stupid-shit-and-fall-over').

Derek shook his head and watched his pack with mild amusement until Stiles caught his eye and the teen grinned at him before attempting to stand and promptly falling back down on the sofa. Derek thought briefly to go and help but then he remembered that Stiles had gotten himself into this state – unless he's in mortal danger – he's on his own. He watches as the teen finally manages to get to his feet and then he stumbles his way over to Derek and lands heavy against his chest.

"Hey Sourwolf" he says, placing his arms around the Alpha's neck to hold them close.

"Stiles, how many times have I said for you not to call me that?" he replies, his tone filled with boredom as he puts his hands onto the teen's hips.

"Many, but I like it when you say it" a blush works its way across his cheeks and then he blurts "you're pretty"

Derek shakes his head again "I'm a man," he grits out "men are handsome, not pretty"

"Beautiful? Stunning? Gorgeous? Fantastic? Amazing? Pretty?" he blurts, as if he's reading from a thesaurus instead of looking straight into the face of an Alpha werewolf.

"You already said pretty" Derek says, a smirk working its way across his lips.

"Did I say beautiful?" Stiles blinks in confusion.

"Yeah"

"Well, that sucks." He shrugs and leans over to kiss the older man. Derek allows it for a few seconds before pulling away.

"Stiles..." he manages, his voice going deep and gravelly "you're drunk."

"You're sexy!" he shoots back quickly, stealing another kiss.

"Stiles, you don't want this" he growls.

"Fuck that" he snorts "I've wanted this for nearly a year and I've been having it for the last week."

Jackson starts to choke loudly on his soda before spitting it back into his cup and erupting into laughter. Lydia shoots him a confused look before following the eyes of everyone in the room to look at the two by the window.

"What... What did he say?" Allison asks blankly, reaching over to turn the music down slightly.

"Stiles just admitted he's wanted to bone Derek for about a year" Erica explains calmly; the only person in the room who doesn't look completely shocked to hear this, "and now Derek is going to come out with some random shit about why they can't be together..."

Derek ignore them, simply staring at the boy before him as his brain tries to process that information. "A year?" he finds himself asking, completely bewildered.

"Yeah, like... when Scott first got turned and we were looking for his inhaler in the forest and you marched over all badass like 'this is private property' – that was hot" he laughed "and now, look at you... you're a teddy bear with big red eyes and fangs" Stiles moved one of his hands to trace Derek's bottom lip.

"I'm pretty sure teddy bear's don't rip people's throats out" he muttered.

"You know what's hilarious though," Stiles continues like Derek had never spoken. "I've gotten you arrested, pinned you for murder, my Dad thinks you're completely insane but I still like your stupid face. Even when you're looking at me like you want to kill me... like now. Stop that"

"When you put it like that... you're an asshole" Derek smirks.

"Hey!" he protests "I've saved your life loads! Like, when I held you up in the water for like two fucking hours and did I get a thank you? Nope!"

"What about the time you told Danny I was your cousin?" he argues,

Stiles grins sheepishly "You were covered in blood and Danny didn't mind you changing!"

He distantly hears Danny chuckle nervously and Isaac get up and stride across the room to sit beside his boyfriend, arms crossing over his chest and looking rather grumpy as he continued to watch the two argue (although, he was pretty sure that neither of them were entirely sure what they were even arguing about anymore – mostly because Stiles is drunk and Derek looks flabbergasted at the whole situation).

"Derek," Erica snaps "would you just kiss the boy already?!"

"Yeah, _Derek_" Stiles smirks "kiss the boy"

Derek frowns before shrugging and leaning down to kiss the teen breathless before walking him over to the sofa and sitting him down again. He leaves to go and fetch a glass of water and when he returns, the dancing and the conversations around the room have resumed.

"No more alcohol" Derek mutters, taking a seat beside the Stiles and passing him the glass "it messes with your scent, I don't like it"

Stiles downs the water and hands it back for Derek to put it on the coffee table "I smell funny?" he sounds genuinely hurt and the Alpha can't help but smirk at his pout.

"I didn't say that... I said that alcohol messes with your scent. I can't get a read on you like I usually can, it's disconcerting" he frowns.

"Oh, okay then..." Stiles says before leaning forward to kiss him again, hands going into the thick black hair and pulling him closer as their tongues slide together. He pulls away to breath, putting their foreheads together gently and letting his fingertips roam over the stubble. "Derek..?"

"Hmm?" he replies, listening to the boy's heart as it picked up whenever their skin made contact.

"I'm sleepy" he says,

"Yeah, I'm tired too" Isaac frowns and there's a murmur of agreement from around the room.

Lydia turns the music off, causing Kesha's voice to stop abruptly and silence falls across the room until she claps her hands together loudly. "Right, Jackson and I sorted this out earlier" she grins "we moved four double mattresses into the largest spare room so that we can cuddle... because apparently, you guys do that?"

They all look to Derek for assurance, since he's the only one who has any idea about it and he just smirks "It's true,"

Lydia beams and they all start to move up the stairs (the humans mostly being carried up them due to their intoxication) and they follow Lydia to their designated room. It's as she'd said – they'd moved four mattresses onto the floor and then covered each one with a fitted sheet, pillows and various blankets. Derek drops Stiles onto one of them and slides their backpack from his shoulder before opening it and pulling out the t-shirts they'd brought to wear as pyjamas.

He throws the over-sized shirt at Stiles' head "Get changed"

"But I'm tired" he whines "and my teeth taste funny"

Derek sighs and rubs his temples, "Come on then" he growls, pulling out their toothbrushes and hauling Stiles to his feet roughly, dragging him to the nearest bathroom. He places a dollop of mint toothpaste onto each before he places the brush into Stiles' hands and he quickly cleans his own teeth as well. Once they're finished, Derek peels Stiles' shirt off and manhandles him into a fresh one and he repeats the process himself.

"Take off your jeans" Derek says, undoing the button and zipper on his own before tugging them down his thighs and kicking them off to the side. When he looks up again, Stiles is stood watching him with his mouth open like a goldfish. "C'mon!" he says impatiently.

"But I'm tired" he repeats "you do it"

Derek growls, his eyes turning red as he scowls at the teen. He thinks to yell at him but he figures that sober Stiles is stubborn so he can only imagine how insufferable drunk Stiles can be. Therefore, to avoid an argument – Derek steps closer and pushes the button open before sliding down the zip, trying desperately not to pay attention to the way Stiles' breath catches in his throat or his heart rate speeds up. Derek pushes the material down his legs, making him sit on the toilet seat so that he can remove the boy's feet, once he's finished, Derek gathers and folds their clothes before helping Stiles back to their makeshift bedroom.

The rest of the pack have made themselves comfortable; leaving a space in the very centre for the two boys. Once they've laid down and are snuggled under the blankets; Stiles rolls over and makes his head comfortable on Derek's shoulder, throwing an arm across his stomach.

Feet – probably Isaac's – hook themselves around Stiles' calves while Erica snuggles against Derek's back, her arm coming over to cover Stiles'. Stiles figures that this is what a regular pack does... they sleep in one huge dog-pile (pun not intended), and he understands. This is safe and warm and it's oddly comfortable knowing that your sort-of family are all around to protect against anything that goes bump in the night (aside themselves of course). He feels Derek's arms tight around his waist, as they usually are and he smiles because everything feels right. Nothing is out of place because they're all there, together.

As if he can sense Stiles' thoughts, Derek pushes his lips against his forehead with a smile "I know..." he whispers, like he's replying to every single thing Stiles had just said inside his brain, "get some sleep."


	16. Chapter 16

Stiles wakes up to the sun shining across his eyes and a disgusting taste in his mouth, he feels the familiar warmth of Derek's body beside his own and he turns his face into the muscled chest and then he let out a loud groan because _fuck_. He was pretty certain he'd never felt this bad in his life – even that time he got owned by Gerard Argent – his entire body ached, every limb, muscle and joint just hurt. And his head, oh god, his head was going to explode. Was someone allowing a marching band to play next to his head? Because that's what it felt like!

There is a chuckle and a hand threads into his hair. "Not feeling too good?" Derek asks.

"Shut up" he grumbles back, trying to push his face into his chest more and pull the covers over his head to block out the sunlight. "I feel so ill"

"It's your fault" Derek smirks, "no one made you drink that much"

"Urhhhhh" he moans loudly, rolling more onto his side, slotting his leg between Derek's in a feeble attempt at getting closer to the boy so that he could hide his face from the world. "Do your 'Werewolf-Pain-Magic-Shit'"

"Is that the technical term?" he replies

"Yes" Stiles snaps "please, I feel so bad right now"

"It's your fault" he repeats "you should suffer the consequences"

"Which will be me, puking in the Camaro" he whines "and you know I will... I know you're rich enough to afford another car"

"You wouldn't" he growls

"I would"

There is a beat of silence and then there's a hand cupping the back of his neck and slowly, his pain starts to melt away and his body begins to relax until he feels like he's floating on a cloud of. '_**Holy shit, I'm floating on a cloud of Derek Hale!'**_

Stiles thinks to move away but there are arms and bodies and he reluctantly lifts his head to see that yes, arms and bodies is the best description he could come up with because this is just obscene. To their right; Scott is on the end curled protectively around Allison's back, her arm is dangling across the shoulders of Danny and Isaac who are completely cuddled into each other while Isaac's feet are still wrapped around one of Stiles' legs. Stiles is laying on his stomach; body half on top of the Alpha with his hand curled into the black shirt. To their left, Erica has turned over to cuddle into Boyd's chest while Jackson is on his back, one arm trapped by Boyd and the other wrapped around Lydia as she presses her face into his neck.

"Okay, this is weird" Stiles chuckles, shifting so that he can rest his head onto the pillow so that he and Derek are face-to-face. "It's a good weird... Werewolf weird"

Derek nods slowly, a smile twitching at his lips "This is what I miss" he whispers "usually, the Alpha has their own room and the Beta's sleep like this. It's a dominance thing... When my family were alive; we all had our own rooms but there was an attic space with mattresses like this so we could either sleep together or in our own rooms if we wanted to be alone"

Stiles smiles, "That sounds nice" he replies in a hushed tone.

"It was" he nods "I-I miss it" he hesitates but the words leave his mouth and then he's chewing his lip while his eyes anxiously search Stiles'.

"It's okay to miss them y'know?" Stiles says after a long silence, "when my Mom died... I refused to talk about it and it became a Taboo subject with my Dad and Scott. So now, whenever I say anything about her, they get all tense and change the subject but – but I'm ready now. I want to talk about her"

Derek tilts his head enough to rub their noses together before moving back again, "You can talk to me..." he mutters.

"I know" he smiles softly and then he takes a leap of faith, trying not to let his heart rate change in anyway "I'd like to hear about your family too – if you want."

Again, there is a hushed silence, only filled by the snoring and heavy breathing around them "I'd like that" he says eventually. "My Mom would have liked you; she'd have seen your loyalty. My sister would have laughed at you for being clumsy and my Dad would have picked your brain about all that random _crap_ you have in there. And my younger sister would have insisted you have a tea party with her and all my cousins, because it was mandatory if you came in the house. And you'd have liked Uncle Peter... before he went crazy; he was fun and sarcastic but he was like a Dad to everyone and his wife – my Aunt - was great... I wish... I wish you could have met them – that they could have met you"

Stiles stares at him for a moment, completely shocked about the sheer number of words that just left Derek Hale's mouth, he wasn't even sure Derek had a vocabulary that big but he'd just been proven wrong. He'd just told him how he'd wanted him to meet his family and yeah, in terms of 'Derek', that was pretty much a fucking love confession.

Stiles grins and leans forward, taking Derek's lips in a soft kiss. He tries to pour everything he is feeling into that kiss because somehow, he knows words won't cut it. He can feel Derek kissing back with the same desperation and the hand cupping his face moves down to his neck, then fingertips trail down his spine, causing him to shiver.

"My Mom..." Stiles gasps when they break away to push their foreheads together "My Mom would have absolutely loved you. She saw the good in everyone, and she would have interrogated about your intentions toward me but she wouldn't have meant it in a bad way... she would have just wanted to see if you would fight for me or something like that. But she would have loved you because I do and that would have been enough; that you make me happy"

A tear drips from the corner of his eye and heads sideways towards his hairline and soaks into the pillow; its followed by another, then another. He reaches up and scrubs them away, feeling ridiculous about crying in front of this insanely attractive guy, about his Mother while the rest of their pack is asleep beside them. He sniffs and rubs at his eyes again, trying to make them feel less sore now that the salty liquid has dried up.

"Sorry" he mumbles "It's stupid, sorry"

When he looks back at Derek, he sees the other boy staring at him, mouth slightly open and green eyes wide with shock. "Di – Did you – just..." he manages before he falls silent again.

"Derek, you have to use words" he frowns

"You just said you love me" he finally says. He thinks back to everything he'd just said and then Stiles' stomach drops and his heart suddenly accelerates like a car going zero-to-sixty in under a second. He feels sick. Why was he such an idiot? Why did he have to say that? Why was his big, fat mouth always getting him into tro – _**'Oh? Big fat mouth is busy?'**_

By the time Stiles' brain registers the kiss, Derek is pulling away again. Looking like a three year old on Christmas morning; a wide smile that is causing wrinkles around his eyes.

So, he accidently told Derek Hale he loved him and he wasn't punched in the face? The world was defiantly upside-down today. "Wha?" Stiles says, because it's the most intelligent thing his brain could come up with at that second and then he adds "You're not punching me?"

Derek snorts quietly "Clearly" he snips.

For what feels like the one-hundredth time that morning (or Afternoon? Stiles isn't sure of the time) they lay in complete silence, just staring at each other until Stiles' mouth starts working before his brain again (oh yeah, did he mention how big and _fat_ his mouth is?)

"Does this mean we're dating?" he blurts "like... real dating, not fake 'Werewolves-are-trying-to-eat-me' dating?"

"I don't know" he offers in reply "do you _want_ to date?"

"Well, obviously" he chuckles.

"Okay then" Derek reaches up the rub the back of his neck awkwardly "Well... do you want to be my boyfriend?"

"Yeah" Stiles grins, he probably looks like a love-struck thirteen-year-old at a Justin Bieber concert but he doesn't actually have the energy to care. "Although, I think we need to tell my Dad"

Derek grimaces "You've said it yourself... your Dad thinks I'm a nut job. Do you really think he's going to agree to let me date his son?"

Stiles shrugs "We'll see" he smirks "besides, it's not like he can keep us apart with you preferring to use my window rather than the door as an entrance to my house"

"Doors are over-rated" he smirks, pressing a kiss to Stiles' lips again "but yeah, we'll tell your dad"

Stiles nods and kisses him again, longer, deeper and with far more passion than he'd ever let himself before because this is real, this is what he wants and he's got it... he's going to abuse his privileges while they last.

"Guys" Jackson growls angrily "it's _wonderful_ that you've got over your awkward not-dating-but-totally-dating stage... but if you don't stop making out, I'll kick your asses out of this house."

"Bring it on" Derek smirks, biting at Stiles' bottom lip with a grin.


	17. Chapter 17

Stiles is already downstairs when the rest of the pack begin to surface. After finishing his make-out session with Derek, he'd gone to the bathroom and then his stomach decided that he wasn't tired enough to sleep through his hunger. And that was how he found himself digging through Lydia's fridge in an attempt to find something that could possible resemble breakfast, however, it seemed that the Werewolves had stripped the Martin house of all food.

With a sigh, he grabs the OJ and a glass and sits on a stool at the breakfast bar, sipping at his drink as he scrolls his phone through his Facebook Newsfeed. Once he's finished his drink; Stiles puts his glass in the dishwasher and returns to the stool, starting a very intense game of Tetris to pass the time.

Scott is first down the stairs, his stomach growling angrily as he falls into the seat beside the other boy, letting his head sink onto the counter.

"Good morning, Sunshine" Stiles chuckles, not taking his eyes from the screen as he slides another block into place, removing four lines at once.

"This isn't a _good_ morning." He grumbles in return, "it's too early and I should still be curled up in bed with Allison"

"Then why aren't you?"

"Because Boyd is snoring!" he groans again and turns his head to look at Stiles "why are you up?"

Stiles shrugs "I woke up and... had a chat with Derek, then I was super hungry and decided to come down"

"Oh, food" Scott sighs contently, like he hasn't heard of a word so fantastic in his entire life. "Did you make anything?"

"No, we ate everything last night" he frowns deeply as a block misses it's intended target and messes up the whole row that Stiles has been trying to remove. Stupid Tetris.

"Speaking of last night... Shouldn't you have a hangover right now? I mean, you drank so much" Scott laughs "Derek literally carried you up the stairs because you kept falling over"

Stiles smirks "He did the Werewolf thing with the black veins or whatever"

Scott opens his mouth to say something (undoubtedly a joke by the look on his face) when both Allison and Lydia stumble into the room; their hair mused and both looking particularly worse for wear.

"Good morning" Stiles repeats, glancing up before going back to his game and holy crap, he just beat his highscore!

"Shut up, my head hurts so bad right now" Lydia groans, pouring a glass of water and downing the entire thing before sitting in a stool opposite Stiles at the breakfast bar.

"Oh my god, why did you let me drink that much" Allison grumbles, poking an accusing finger into Scott's chest.

"What?" he says, looking like a lost puppy, "I'm sorry, I thought you'd be okay"

Allison ignores him, instead opting for wrapping her arms around his waist and leaning against his back; face pressed between his shoulder blades. She mumbles something quietly and Scott chuckles as he threads their fingers together.

They're soon joined by Danny, Erica and Isaac; who all look less that pleased to be out of bed but shooting the same story that Boyd's snoring woke them. Danny resembles the other two girls in their extremely hungover state and Isaac starts on making a jug of coffee. Danny then proceeds to ask _why_ Stiles isn't suffering and Stiles receives a dead leg from where Danny punches him for getting out of the 'honest-to-god-worst-hangover-ever'.

It isn't long before Boyd too, walks down the stairs and receives glares from nearly everyone; to which he shrugs before leaning over to kiss Erica.

"Hang on," Isaac frowns "you're the one who woke everyone else up... did you snore _yourself_ awake?"

Boyd snorts "No." He replies "Jackson kicked me and Derek awake. He said something about payback for waking him up?" Stiles' cheeks burn and he ducks his head to continue his game as Boyd continues "I think Derek went for a shower and Jackson went to Lydia's room for clothes"

No one really replies; they just listen as the coffee machine gurgles angrily – like it too is annoyed at being woken up so early – and soon they're graced by the presence of Jackson Whittemore.

"No more pack sleepovers" he growls, placing a kiss onto Lydia's temple. "I'm so done"

"What are you blabbing about now?" Scott snaps

"Well, between everyone getting settled in bed, the freaking crow dancing around on the roof, Derek and Stiles' early morning make-out session and Boyd's snoring. I have had _enough_ of you all" Jackson says angrily, throwing his hands in the air as he pours himself and Lydia a mug of coffee each.

Stiles feels eyes shift to him and he tries to hide behind his hair, which totally doesn't work seeing as his hair defies gravity and therefore does not hang over his face. He tries to focus all of his attention onto the game of Tetris, which seems to be going downhill quickly until he hears Scott trying to stutter out some words.

"Bu – Wha – Are yo – Stiles... wha -?" he manages until his mouth stops producing words at all, instead just opening and closing periodically.

Erica takes that moment as an opportunity to start singing "Derek and Stiles sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-S-S-S-S-I-N-G!" she laughs as she adds the extra S's, a huge grin on her face "First come love, second comes marriage, then comes a baby in a golden carriage!"

"If you think men can have babies, then I obviously need to stop taking you out of school" Derek says.

Stiles looks up at him; he's wearing his black t-shirt, a pair of tight jeans and his hair is flat and shiny from the shower. He's glaring at the Beta with his usual 'don't-be-a-pain-in-the-ass' stare.

"What?" she whines, sounding less than impressed "no need to do that, I know guys can't have babies. I don't need school."

Derek shrugs "I don't know..." he sighs "I'm very concerned that you don't seem to know the correct spelling of kissing either,"

This time, Erica actually lets out a whine and Stiles snorts at the noise and she turns on his "Oh shut up," she snaps.

Derek's across the room in seconds, his body pressing up against Stiles' back, arm around his shoulders and a low growl escaping his lips. There's silence. Everyone averting their eyes as Derek bares his teeth at the girl who lowers her head.

Stiles places down his phone, allowing his game to come to an end (making a internal celebration at the new highscore he'd set) and he wraps his hand lightly around Derek's forearm, which is dangerously close to his throat. "Calm down, big guy, she was only playing" he says calmly.

Derek sighs and lets his head come down to rest on top of Stiles', breathing in the scent of his hair as his spare arm goes around his waist. "Sorry" he mutters, more to Stiles than Erica.

Again, there's an awkward silence which Isaac manages to clear by making an offer of coffee which everyone loudly agrees to. And they start digging around in cupboards for cups.

Derek's nose has somehow found its way out of Stiles' hair and is now nuzzling softly behind the teen's ear; and Stiles is doing his best now to let the moan slip through his lips. The Alpha proceeds down his neck before going around his jaw before nudging him again to get Stiles to shift his face around. When he does, soft lips capture his and Derek lets out a contented noise (that sounds somewhere between a growl and a whimper) that causes the teen to smile and he leans into the kiss more.

When they pull back, Stiles glances around to find Scott still staring at him with an open mouth. "What?" he asks; trying desperately to ignore the fact that there's a pair of teeth nipping at the skin on his neck.

"Derek..." Scott says slowly, as if Stiles had completely missed the last minute of his life. "You're kissing Derek. Like... _willingly_ kissing _Derek_"

"So?" he asks, wincing away from the teeth when they scrape over a particularly sensitive part of his skin.

"It's _Derek_!" he repeats, louder.

"Scott, I'm not stupid. I know who he is, and I know what I'm doing" Stiles says.

"Then why are you doing it?" Scott's arms flail and Stiles takes a second to wonder if _he_ looks like that much of an idiot when he waves his arms around wildly, until he decides that no; he can defiantly pull of flailing more than Scott can.

"They're dating" Jackson supplies from across the table, "officially since this morning... it's what prompted their make-out... it was all very sweet and disgusting and you should be glad you didn't have to listen to it"

"DATING?!" Scott yells, causing Danny, Allison and Lydia to all groan and clutch their heads. "Okay, I think you've hit your head. This is _Derek Hale_"

"If you say that one more time, I'm going to punch you" he hesitates "actually, I'll probably break my hand... Derek can punch you" Derek nods in agreement before moving to the other side of Stiles' neck.

Lydia smirks "It's good having a Werewolf boyfriend, isn't it?"

Stiles laughs and nods, before bumping his fist against the one Danny offers him.

"Urh!" Isaac yells angrily "is there no food in this house? What are we meant to have for breakfast?"

"Oh?" Lydia said, twirling her hair in her fingers innocently "as a way to get you all to leave, we're not supplying breakfast"

"What?" Erica's eyes narrow.

"Well, we figured you'd all never leave unless you had to... Jackson's taking me to that new restaurant in town for our breakfast. Actually, I have to go shower." She slips off her stool and says goodbye before disappearing upstairs.

"Ready to go?" Derek breathes against his ear and Stiles shivers.

"Yeah, I have to go change first" he replies and gets off his stool; Derek pulls him in for another kiss before finally releasing him to go grab his backpack and pull on his jeans and a fresh shirt.

It isn't long before they're back in the Camaro and reversing out of Lydia's drive and onto the road. Derek reaches across and slips his fingers into Stiles', smiling softly at him for a second.

"Well, that was..." Stiles mutters

"Eventful?" he offers and Stiles nods enthusiastically.

"I think eventful covers it"


	18. Chapter 18

"Oh shit" Stiles mumbles, reaching up to rub his eyes as he climbs out of the Camaro "my Dad's home"

Derek steadies him as he trips slightly and then closes the passenger side door with a chuckle "Shouldn't you be pleased that he'd home?" he asks

"I _should_," Stiles says, stepping into Derek's space and placing his hands flat on the man's chest "but I was kinda hoping for an empty house to make-out with my new boyfriend"

Derek smirks and curls his hand around Stiles' hip as the teen reaches up onto his toes to push their mouths together; his hands slide down Derek's stomach and fingers hook into his belt loops, pulling him even closer. Derek lets out a whine, slowly pulls back to rest their foreheads together and he nudges their noses.

"Stiles..." he breaths "your Dad is just inside and if you keep pulling on my jeans, we're going to have a problem"

Stiles grins sheepishly "Sorry" he says, stepping back and looking up with hopeful eyes "Later?"

"Later" Derek nods, taking his hand and pulling him towards the house "are we going to tell him... about us?"

Stiles shrugs and then pushes the door open "Dad?" he calls out, kicking off his shoes, dumping the backpack with their clothes in it onto the floor and hanging Derek's leather jacket on the hanger.

"Stiles, come in here please" his Dad replies from the dining room – he knows that tone. He usually gets that tone after Stiles has done something wrong – he shares a worrying glance with Derek before walking towards the table to face his inevitable doom as Derek busies himself in the hall by removing his boots.

"What's up?" he asks, leaning on the doorframe.

"I received a phonecall from Mrs. Gillingham yesterday" his Father says, folding his hands together on the table, is this what he looks like when he interrogates people?

"Okay..?" he raises an eyebrow.

"She told me that she saw you in the grocery store with a – and I quote – 'very handsome, tall young man who I'm certain was accused of murder not so long ago'," Stiles feels his stomach drop, "she then went on to tell me how you rode around on his back, and kissed him multiple times"

"Shit..." Stiles mutters, "stupid old woman can't keep her freaking mouth shut,"

"Do you wish to tell me _why_ you're kissing Derek Hale?" his Dad asks, lips in a thin line and his shoulders tight.

"Well, Dad... umm, I guess we've got to talk to you about something"

"We?"

Derek steps into the room, eyes locked onto the man at the table "Sir" he says in greeting.

"Derek" he replies stiffly before motioning to the two chairs on the opposite side of the table "sit."

The two of them exchange another glance before moving to sit down, and Derek reaches out to grasp Stiles' hand tightly under the table. Stiles is abruptly ecstatic that his Father is _not_ a Werewolf because the man can currently not hear the way his heart is beating really fast, or smell Derek on his skin.

"So, Dad." Stiles says, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly and then – of course – the rambling takes over, "you know Derek right? I mean, obviously, you arrested him for murder. But he was totally innocent! Which is a good point because Derek doesn't kill people at all, he's good. Anyway, me and Derek are friends. I think you know that too... well, yeah. There's a me and Derek now, what I'm trying to say is that–"

"Sir, I'm dating your son" Derek cuts across

"–that. I'm trying to say that" Stiles finishes weakly.

"And how long has this been happening?" his Dad asks, the question clearly directed at the older man but Stiles' mouth, once again, decides to work before his mouth.

"Since this morning" he says and Derek reaches up to grasp the bridge of his nose.

"This morning?" his Father growls "care to explain that?"

Derek squeezes his hand, as a silent message to let him answer. "We attended a party at the house of Lydia Martin, we all slept at her house and this morning, Stiles and I had a conversation and decided to make this... _thing_ between us, official."

"Define 'thing'"

Derek shifts and rolls his shoulders "We have been seeing each other and have been on several dates"

"And now you're... boyfriends?" he asks carefully, looking between the two of them.

"Yeah!" Stiles grins, his leg bouncing up and down restlessly.

His Dad rubs his hands over his face; pulling the skin back tight. "Okay."

"Okay?" Stiles questions

"Okay." He repeats "ground rules; you will be home by eleven on school nights and midnight on the weekends, unless otherwise arranged. Your grades will _not_ suffer because of this relationship. And I want you both here at least once a week for a family dinner."

"Deal" Stiles says.

"Seems reasonable" Derek nods.

"Right, so what were you two planning on doing today?" his Dad asks, seeming to visibly relax.

"Umm, we were just going to..." Stiles glances at Derek for a second, "watch films?"

"Right, I'm not even going to bring up the fact you just made that up on the spot" his Dad groans

Stiles chuckles nervously and stands, giving his Dad the biggest smile he could before tugging Derek out of the room and up the stairs by his hand. As soon as the door closes; Stiles turns and pushes his face into Derek's shoulder, letting out a noise of displeasure.

"That was horrendous" he groans,

"It could of gone worse" he feels Derek shrug.

"Oh, now you're Mister Optimistic? Seriously? What the hell?" he says, arms wrapping around the man's waist and breathing in his familiar scent.

"Sorry, would you like me to join your pity party?"

"Please" Stiles nods and Derek just chuckles in response before lightly tugging on Stiles' hair to pull his head back enough so he could kiss him.

Stiles' arms came up around his neck and he pulls them closer; a tongue slides across his bottom lip and he opens his lips, allowing his _boyfriend's_ tongue to enter; both of them fighting for dominance as Derek pushes him back until the back of his knees hit the bed and they fall backwards. He keeps their lips together as he moves to straddle his hips as Stiles' fingers dragged through his hair roughly.

"Oh my _god_" he breathes as Derek moves towards his neck; nipping at his jaw as he went. Stubble scratched at his skin; it was an odd feeling but oh, so good. His hands fell from Derek's head, running down his back, tracing the bumps of his spine until he reaches for the hem of his t-shirt and he tugs on it gently.

"Stiles" Derek says in warning.

"Oh, come on. I've seen you without your shirt loads of times" he rolls his eyes and continues to pull the material up. Eventually; Derek complies and sits up straight on Stiles' stomach to allow the younger boy to tug off his shirt and then he proceeds to stare at his chest and he throws the shirt across the room. "How much do you work out?"

Derek throws his head back and laughs "Really, that's what you ask?"

Stiles grins and shrugs "I'm interested"

"Lately, I haven't been working out so much" he admits "before I was Alpha? A lot"

Stiles nods in approval and runs his hands up the man's arms and then down his chest, "Mm, I think you should just take shirts out of your wardrobe in general"

"You want me to walk around topless all the time?" he raises an eyebrow

"Hmm, okay. No, only with me"

Derek smirks "Is that jealously I smell?"

Stiles grins "Can you actually smell jealously?"

"Of course, most emotions have a smell. For example, you currently smell of jealously, lust and arousal" his smirk grows bigger.

"That good?"

Derek falls forward, his hands landing either side of Stiles' head, "Very" he whispers, pushing their lips into another kiss.

"I DON'T HEAR ANY MOVIES PLAYING" the Sheriff suddenly yells through the door and Stiles sighs heavily.

"THAT'S BECAUSE THERE ISN'T ONE PLAYING YET" he shouts back "GO AWAY" They hear footsteps descend the stairs and then Stiles groans "he's such a cockblock"


	19. Chapter 19

Another few days passes and Stiles is settling into a new routine; he wakes up with Derek, which leads to an early morning make-outs (which is actually a little disgusting because they both have morning breath – but it's also great because it's all tired limbs and slow movements), they go about their regular tasks of showering, dressing before they eat breakfast together. Derek drives him and the others to school (again, prompting another 'goodbye' make-out, much to Scott's disgust) and then they part ways.

And that is how Stiles finds himself on a Wednesday morning, being bored out of his mind in History (because really, who the hell needs to learn about what has literally been named 'The Most Boring Day In History' – which happens to be April 11, 1954), Stiles then decides to make the game which he calls 'make-the-werewolves-laugh-and-see-how-long-until- they-get-kicked-out-of-class'.

"Hey guys" he whispers into his book but a glance around the room shows that he's captured their attention, "who would win in an angst-off; Derek or Edward Cullen?" from his seat he can hear Scott slam a hand across his mouth to cover a snigger and in front of him, Isaac's shoulders are shaking.

Stiles decides that this is a good topic to go with so he continues; "I mean, they've both got their fair share of angst; Edward has the whole 'I'm a vampire, I could hurt you' while Derek has 'I'm a Werewolf, fuck off'. But at least Derek's more inclined towards relationships than Edward, which is good for me I guess... really good" Stiles bites his lip and then lets out a low 'Urgh!'

He chances another look around, Boyd's jaw is tight and his eyes scrunching as he tries to avoid locking eyes with anyone else. Scott still has his hand across his mouth while Isaac is bending forward, pretending to be reading his book as he sniggers quietly.

Stiles is about to continue once again when his cell buzzes in his pocket. He stealthily pulls it out and opens his text.

**I heard that, idiot. Doing my rounds. Look out the window.  
[From:/ Derek]**

"Oh _fuck_." He groans, glancing out the window and grinning sheepishly at the man standing in the parking lot below, his arms across his chest and looking extremely annoyed. "Guys... look out the window" he whispers.

And that's it. The four boys break; it starts off with Scott snorting loudly, which causes Isaac to release a small giggle that slowly evolves and results in them getting kicked out of the class. After they finish laughing, they make their way out to the parking lot and find Derek, still looking extremely unimpressed.

"Edward Cullen?" he says, raising an eyebrow.

"I was bored and wanted to get kicked out of class" he shrugs "you're a source of great hilarity"

Scott lets out another snort and Boyd rolls his eyes. Derek's other eyebrow rises to meet the other near his hairline as his eyes scan the immediate area before returning his gaze to Stiles; who is still wearing the lopsided grin that he usually gets around the Alpha.

"So, my Dad is out tonight so I was thinking pack pizza party at mine?" Stiles says, trying to divert the attention away from his Edward vs. Derek joke.

"I'm in" Scott says,

"Sounds like fun" Isaac grins at him, throwing an arm around Boyd's shoulders that, at that point in time, isn't looking particularly happy but he's nodding despite his expression.

"I'm sure the others will come." Stiles adds before looking at Derek "You in, Sourwolf?"

"Whatever" he huffs, staring out into the forest once again.

Stiles steps closer and frowns "What's up?" he asks quietly, drawing the Alpha's attention.

Derek shakes his head, as if he's trying to clear a bad thought but his frown deepens regardless. "Something's... wrong." He says eventually, "I can _feel_ it. And I don't know what _it_ is. But it's bad."

"I'm sure it's nothing, maybe an Omega passed though overnight?" Stiles reaches out and pulls Derek's arms down from his chest and entwines their fingers tightly "if it's bothering you that much then take one of the Beta's out of school? Don't go after anything alone"

Derek nods slowly "Yeah..." he says.

"So, I was also thinking about going to see Deaton?" Stiles mutters "I want to get some Mountain Ash, and wear it in a vial around my neck or something? I figure, if anything happens then I can smash it and make a barrier that bad guys can't reach into?"

Derek's eyebrows settle further down his face "You think that'll work?"

Stiles shrugs "It's better than nothing, and I know I can do it. It'll be enough and need be; I can protect Lydia and Danny too"

"That's a really good idea" Scott pipes in "although, I'm a little offended Allison isn't on your protection list"

Isaac snorts "Please, sometimes I think that girl can fight better than we can"

Scott looks oddly proud at that and Boyd is once again rolling his eyes, "She's amazing, isn't she?" he sighs happily, causing Stiles to groan loudly.

"I'll go see Deaton in a while and I can give you the ash when I pick you up." Derek says, more to himself than anything "at the very least, it could buy you some time until we find you"

"And our daily planning is done!" Scott announces, throwing his hands in the air. "Can we go find something to do now? I'm bored."

"And people say I have the attention span of a goldfi – Derek? Derek, what's happening?" Stiles' voice goes from joking to deadly serious in under a second.

Derek's eyes are a blood red and his fangs showing as his lips curls back with a growl. He's backing away from the forest edge, pushing Stiles behind him. His claws are out; Stiles can feel them as the older man grasps his wrists tightly. Stiles sees her then.

The girl that has been following him for the last two weeks is walking out of the forest. She's exactly how Boyd described her except that now he sees her; Stiles can't help but want to laugh. Because she is wearing a white top that is splattered with blood, twigs and leaves stick out of her hair at odd angles, designer jeans are cut up at the knees while she walks barefoot through the dirt; mud getting up under her long toenails and yeah, that's disgusting.

"Hello boys" she grins, showing off two rows of perfect, white straight teeth, only ruined by the fangs that grow out a second later.

"What do you want?" Derek says, his words slurred around his teeth.

"Isn't it obvious?" she replies, flicking her hair in a very Lydia-esque way, "we want that boy and to kill you all, of course."

A snarl rips from Derek's mouth "You can't have him"

She tips her head back and laughs "Really, you think that's going to stop me taking him?" she says "people used to tremble at the mention of the Hale Pack but now what are you? A bunch of idiot teenage-betas, a couple humans with literally _no_ talent and an Alpha that has no idea. It's pathetic. Really, we're doing you a favour by putting you down"

"Come near him and I'll personally tear you limb-from-limb" he spits out, trying to push Stiles back without taking his eyes off the woman.

"Oooh, I'm shaking in my boots" she smirks "wait a second, I'm not _wearing_ boots"

Derek lets out another growl and Stiles doesn't know what to do with himself so he just continues to move backwards, trying to avoid looking at the Alpha-lady. He distantly hears the bell ring and swears under his breath because it's lunch and soon, the parking lot is going to be full of kids and they're here having a Werewolf showdown.

"Y'know, I went to his house earlier" she says, shifting her weight from one foot to the other "You've got a distinct smell in his house now that wasn't there when I first went in. Do you really think we're stupid enough to fall for the fake-relationship thing? You think that sharing scents would deter us?"

"Stay away from him" Derek repeats.

"It's amusing really, because as soon as we realised you were going to play at being Mates, it just made us want him even more... we're going to destroy you Hale, and we're going to rip that boy apart while you watch. We might even turn him, playtime is always much more fun when they heal fast."

Derek's roar is horrifying, and the woman darts back into the forest and Derek is straight after her, running on all fours. Boyd and Isaac follow immediately, shifting as they go and Scott turns to Stiles helplessly.

"Go!" Stiles urges "Keep him safe"

"What about you?" he replies, dropping his backpack to the concrete, already moving towards the trees.

"I'll go find Erica and Jackson, just _go_!"

Scott turns and sprints away. Stiles stands there for a few minutes; listening as the sound of breaking twigs fades as they get further away. He lets out a sighs, pulling out his cell and dialling Erica.

"Hey, Erica?" Stiles' voice is thick and scratchy "yeah. The guys just took off into the woods after one of the Alpha pack... I said you'd babysit" he listens as she replies, wanting to know the details, telling him she'll be there in just a second. He smiles slightly and turns to walk away when he runs straight into someone's chest and he's knocked to the floor, his phone bouncing away.

"Sorry" he says quickly "I wasn't payin – oh _fuck_"

"Hi, little mouse" one of the two boys (unsure whether it's Ethan or Aiden speaking because hello – identical twins!) smirks. "We've been asked to take you somewhere."

"And if I don't go?" he replies, speaking louder than necessary because he knows that Erica is still on the phone – listening to their conversation and he's hoping to god that he can stall enough until she arrives.

The other twin sighs "Then we'll go about this the _fun_ way" he shrugs nonchalantly, although he's grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"Can't we just do it the fun way?" the first twin says.

The second twin chuckles "Sure, be my guest. Speaking of those, we need to hurry – the little blonde bitch is on her way"

Stiles wants to stall, he _needs_ to stall some more because Erica is _coming_. Right now, to save him. But unfortunately, life doesn't happen to be agreeing with Stiles today because there's a fist connecting with the side of his face and his head snaps back and hits the pavement. And then it's all going black.


	20. Chapter 20

When Stiles wakes up; he's cold. Not in a 'holy-shit-look-it's-snowing' cold but a 'holy-shit-some-crazy-werewolf-just-smashed-me-in- the-face-and-why-can't-I-feel-my-hands-and-feet' cold.

A small, somewhat conscious part of his brain immediately shouts _**'It's called shock, you moron'**_ but he's actually too dizzy to even care about that. He eventually brings himself to open his eyes and he sees he's in some huge room with tall ceilings and stone walls, it's surprisingly warm despite the fact that he's currently not wearing Derek's leather jacket or the shirt he'd put on that morning.

He lifts his head enough to look around; taking in every small detail that could somehow save his life. The room only has one door, it's huge, round and metal with intricate locks showing. The next thing he sees is that he's being suspended from the ceiling, his arms being drawn apart while his shoulders scream in agony and legs dangle helplessly about a foot off the floor.

He instinctively curls his hands around the metal chains and tries to even out his weight, the agony easing slightly while a new pain strikes as the metal links pinch at the skin on his palms. He hisses but otherwise remains silent.

That's when he hears voices and the locks on the door begin to shift, clunking and banging as it goes until the door finally opens and a bright light temporarily blinds him. When Stiles' vision returns, there's a man before him.

He's got greasy brown hair and sunglasses which cover his eyes, as well as a white stick folded in his hand, while the other holds onto one of the twin's elbows.

"You're blind" Stiles finds himself saying.

"Correct" he replies, voice cold and cutting, Stiles does his best not to wince at his cruel tone. "And I'm sure you know exactly who I am?"

The teen nods but instantly regrets it because his head is banging "Deucalion" he answers. "I suppose you're the Alpha amongst Alphas"

The man lets out a dark chuckle "My my, someone has done their research" he smirks "you are Stiles Stilinski"

"The one and only" he says and then he watches as the Twin at his side moves away and leaves the room, he returns quickly with a chair and Deucalion sits.

"Tell me, how did you get involved with Werewolves exactly?" he asks.

"My friend got bitten, some stuff happened. We got locked in the school and then there was this huge drama with killing Peter... no big deal really" he attempts to shrug and hisses in pain when his shoulder feels like it's being pulled from it's socket.

"Peter Hale is alive" Deucalion says, Aiden was tracking him just yesterday.

"Oh, don't you know..." and this right here, is Stiles' problem. Regular people (when being held captive by Werewolves – granted it's not a problem for most) don't attempt to piss of lead-Alpha even more. They sit – hang – quietly and talk politely but instead, Stiles' brain decides that no, he's going to act cocky and confident and have a panic attack over it later. "he came back to life. I like to call him Peter 2.0"

Deucalion frowns and reaches up to scrub his hand against this cleanly shaven jaw "I see, and how did you come to be an Alpha's mate?"

Stiles chokes "Mate?" he blurts "hold up there, we're just dating. Don't go bringing your Werewolf crack into this"

He lets out a loud laugh "My, for an intelligent boy, you're incredibly dense."

"Rude" he grumbles quietly "also, feet exist for a reason, I'm sure they'd appreciate being on the ground right now because I really need a piss"

Anger crosses the lead-Alpha's face and he stands quickly and pushes his claw into the skin by Stiles' hipbone, just breaking the skin, causing the teen to gasp. "Watch your tone, _boy_!" he spits, he drags his claw down about an inch before pulling away and going back to his seat.

Stiles struggles to regain his breath and yeah, _that's_ why he's suspended from the ceiling. Because what's a good kidnapping without a bit of torture?

"I don't want to hurt you," he says after several minutes in silence "okay, that's a lie – I'm going to kill you. But I'd rather I didn't get the floor messy so yes, I'd rather not hurt you"

"Can I ask _why_ you're going to kill me?" he says, watching what comes out of his mouth – working hard at putting his brain-to-mouth filter to work (something that rarely happens).

Deucalion shrugs "You saw how anger can cause a pack to break apart and separate. You're the weakest link but also the strongest."

He can't stop the snort "Come again?"

"Every pack needs human members" he explains, leaning back and shifting his hands into his lap "it balances the wolves. I had four to chose from; the dark haired girl was trouble, the other girl was immune to us – yes, we've done our homework – the boy had only one wolf scent surrounding him and then there was you... your room had a faint scent of all the wolves in your pack; they come and go. Think of yourself as glue"

"I was the common denominator" Stiles mutters

"Correct again" he nods "every member of your pack has a connection to you. Your death will inflict the most amount of damage"

"Good to know I'm being useful" he rolls his eyes.

"You're about to get a whole lot more useful. Because if you don't then it's going to get painful" Deucalion's smirk is back and another man enters the room; he's huge (like freaking skyscraper huge) and there's a large vein on his forehead which is visible due to his cropped hair "This is Ennis... we like to think of him as our own personal torture-monkey."

"Torture-Monkey?" Stiles says, trying to cover a laugh "couldn't you think of a better name? I'm sure Terminator would work"

Deucalion chuckles darkly once again, the sound making shivers run down Stiles' back. "Blame the two young gentlemen you've been attending school with"

"Ahh, it makes sense that the name is that stupid then; if those two made it up" from outside there's a growl "Dude, your growl is nothing compared to Derek's" he calls out.

"And finally, the discussion of your Alpha comes up; Ennis, I think this would be a good start." Lead-Alpha is saying with several nods "Now Stiles... this is how it works – you answer my questions – _honestly_ – and Ennis leaves you alone. Refusal or lying will lead to pain. Understand?"

"It's pretty clear" he grits, he can feel the blood on his hands and he's almost certain that one of his shoulders is no longer in its correct socket.

"Okay, I want locations. Where are Peter, Laura and Derek?" his voice changes instantly. Before he'd been playing nice (or whatever you want to call not ripping his throat out) but now his face is hard, lips pressing into a tight line and Stiles knows that he means business.

"Laura is dead; Peter killed her. Peter's back from the dead but we don't like him around – seriously, he got straight off the creepy train – I think he's up North. Derek is probably tearing the town apart looking for me" he knows that's an easy question but he hopes that they're all that easy, just so he can answer and get killed quickly.

Unfortunately for Stiles, the 'nice' Q&A section of their torture ends very quickly. And soon he's having a cattle prod shoved into his chest. "I won't tell you" he pants. "I can't, they're my pack. I won't betray them"

"How touching" Ennis snorts as he walks in a loose circle around Stiles' body and he jabs the rod into his kidney, causing his body to convulse sharply; the metal of the cuffs digging harshly into the flesh.

It isn't long before he's drifting in and out of consciousness. The pain that's making his body twitch just growing too much as his eyes close before fluttering open again. His brain feels completely drained; not even able to form proper sentences anymore.

He knows he's blacking out for longer periods of time when Deucalion announces that he's bored of this human and he can be left for the evening. "Leave him, he may have water and bread"

And yeah, despite the fact he's in agony; Stiles can't help but be angry because this is bullshit. Why does it always have to be him? He's the only normal one – technically speaking – in the entire pack and yet he's still followed around by danger and disaster.


	21. Chapter 21

When Stiles comes round again, he can feel that he's being watched. It's hard but he finally manages to lift his head enough to glance around and there he finds them – Ethan and Aiden are sat at a table a few feet away, playing a card game.

He knows that they know he's awake, they would have heard the second he stirred by a change in breathing and his heart beat would have increased. But that still doesn't stop Stiles from trying to act like he's actually invisible; hoping they forget him so that he won't get electrocuted, scratched or whatever else these nut-jobs can think up.

"Hello Stiles" one of them says, just loud enough to hear.

"Ethan, we don't have to be nice to him" Aiden scoffs and Ethan stands, walking over to Stiles and taking his face in a clawed hand; squishing his cheeks.

"He's still cute, how can you be mean to that face?"

Stiles jerks his head back "Don't touch me" he snaps and Ethan's face falls.

"Okay," he frowns "No more playing nice"

And the next think Stiles knows, there's a fist connecting with his jaw. He hisses through his teeth and lets the blood run out the corner of his mouth, down his chin and then it drips to the floor.

"Would you guys _stop_ hitting me?" he growls "it's really rude. You know what else is rude? Kidnapping!"

"We didn't kidnap you" Aiden says, coming over to walk in a loose circle around his body while he draws his claws on Stiles' stomach as he goes, leaving behind five scratches that have just broke the surface of the skin, just enough to make him bleed. "We borrowed you without intent of return"

"You can't just borrow people" he sighs "seriously, that's not how shit goes"

"Clearly, we can just borrow people." Ethan rolls his eyes dramatically.

"Jesus, Derek is going to kill you guys," Stiles chuckles darkly.

A grin slides into place on Aiden's face and he comes to stand in front of Stiles, his fangs out and he laughs loudly. "Didn't anyone tell you?" he smirks.

And Stiles feels his stomach drop "Tell me what exactly?"

"He's dead" Aiden laughs again "Kali killed him when he ran after her,"

Stiles feels sick. Derek can't be dead – he just _can't_. He's grumpy, he frowns too much and sometimes he's a bit of a jerk but dammit, he's Stiles' grumpy, frown-y jerk. He pushes down the urge to vomit, the urge to cry. He can't do this now. He's got a lifetime to mourn the man that he hates but loves all at the same time but at this point in time – he's being held captive by a group of crazy people who want him dead. But he trusts in his pack. He knows that even is Derek is gone, they'll never stop looking. They'll never stop wanting him safe, because that's what their Alpha would have wanted too. So no, Stiles doesn't cry, he doesn't puke. Instead he looks blankly back at the twin and says;

"I don't believe you" Stiles is surprised at how strong his voice sounds "I know him, he would keep going until I was back safe. He's stubborn and he doesn't give up."

"Believe what you want" Aiden shrugs, turning to go back to the table where he kicks his feet up.

"I will, I know he's not dead" he's going to keep telling himself that until he's home again or dead because he can't. He needs something to hold onto – _cling_ onto for dear-life. "I know that him and everyone else is coming for me"

Ethan snorts "What, are you expecting some big heroic rescue?" Stiles glares at him, eyes narrowing. "Sorry to say that there can't really be a rescue when there isn't anyone to find because sadly, you're going to be dead"

Before Stiles can reply again, he's being punched again. He can feel the blood start to pour from his nose, streaming down his chin making it difficult to breath.

"Ethan, Deucalion said we shouldn't hit him..." Aiden deadpans, examining his hands.

"Oh yeah"

A vicious smile came across Ethan's face; one that Stiles hadn't thought would ever be there. He walks away from Stiles' hanging body, leaving him to try and spit out the blood filling his mouth, but he's back almost instantly, carrying the cattle rod that Ennis had previously used.

"See, Deucalion says that hitting causes blood loss so he tells us to use electricity. Apparently, it takes longer to cause permanent damage... that means, we get to _play_ longer" he presses the rod to Stiles' ribs; his body jerking and a whimper slipping through his lips. "Squeal little piggy"

"I'm too skinny to be a pig" he says through his teeth.

"I don't know... In a pack full of Werewolves; even by human standards, you're the runt of the litter" he replies "Really, what are you too them?"

"I've said this before–" he coughs and spits more blood to the floor "–I'm an Abominable fucking Snowman!"

Aiden snorts loudly and before Stiles can hear whatever snide remark comes after that; the rod is pressing into his neck. He releases a gurgle as his body convulses violently and his mind goes black.

He's not sure how many days have come and gone. His ears go deaf to the words spoken around him, body unfeeling from the sheer amount pain inflicted and his eyes look but they stop seeing. Stiles feels numb. He stopped using words after blacking out for the fourth or fifth time, instead choosing to nod or shake his head.

He's waiting. Waiting for his friends to bust down the door and literally rip Deucalion's head off because it's what he deserves. He may not be able to see, but that man is not blind when it comes to sticking the cattle rod against Stiles' body; he never misses his target as he presses it against his neck, ribs, arms and back. The blood on his face dried a long time ago.

Stiles hasn't see Ethan and Aiden since that first session. He hopes that his Pack have found them... taken revenge on Stiles' behalf because he's not currently available. A sick, twisted part of his brain hoped that they suffered, just as he is, but that thought brings nausea and guilt because he never wishes this on anyone – even if they are the cause. This is hell.

He'd once read that the dictionary definition of Torture as 'the act of inflicting excruciating pain, as punishment, revenge, or as a means of getting information or for sheer cruelty'. He'd read and comprehended that.

But only now did Stiles really understand what it meant. He hurt. It was agony; feeling the metal dig into the skin on his wrists, bruising them and making them bleed. The multitude of circular burn marks where the cattle rod had been pressed on his skin for too long. He now knew what true pain was. It wasn't falling over and breaking a bone. It wasn't stubbing your toe or being hit in the face with a ball you'd failed to catch.

True pain wasn't just _pain_. It was fear. The fear that every time the door opens, he knows what's coming, he knows that he's destined to be a guinea pig for whatever they've decided to do today. Fear is _worse_ than pain for the simple reason that there is no limit to the imagination.

And Stiles' imagination always had been known to run wild.

This is exactly why he's ignoring the shouting just beyond the door. He's ignoring the growls and the snarls and the sound of fighting.

He ignores it because his brain is cruel and it feeds him hallucinations. It gives him visions of Derek and Scott, of his Mom and Dad. It shows him every single wrong choice he's made, every death he's caused. He ignores it because his mind is his biggest enemy.

His biggest fear


	22. Chapter 22

Stiles wishes he was unconscious, he hates this. Enduring the hallucinations he's currently surrounded in. Just outside the solid metal door there is snarling, growling and occasionally, a yell of pain. He can hear someone shouting but the words are lost on him, he can hear the _crack_ as walls shudder and bits crumble but mostly, he can hear the lock of the door turning.

'_**Great, they're back for more 'fun', can't they leave me to die already?'**_ he thinks solemnly. His head hanging limply as his eyes trail on the floor.

He doesn't look up when the door comes off its hinges and flies across the room, nor does he look up when several sets of footsteps echo around the cold and now-silent room. He sees a pair of shoes stop before him and he's expecting the cattle rod so he flinches but then hands are carefully taking his face and lifting it slowly and his breath catches in his throat.

"Stiles" he hears a familiar voice whisper.

Stiles squeezes his eyes close and tries to shake his face free of the grip. "Stiles, open your eyes" the voice says. He lets a whimper pass his lips "No..." he manages; his voice rough from disuse. "No, you're not real"

"Stiles, I'm real" Derek is saying "I'm real, I'm here... just opened your eyes, please" he begs

Despite the rational side of his brain still telling him it's a delusion, he slowly follows the instructions. He's met with the face of Derek Hale; his cheekbones are more prominent, like he hasn't eaten in many days, he's paler than usual but his green eyes are brighter than ever – filled with relief and sadness.

"D-Derek?" he stutters, leaning into the warmth of the man's palm as his thumb rubs gentle circles on his cheeks.

He smiles softly "Yeah" he whispers back "you're safe. We're get you down now"

"Okay"

He watches as Derek turns to talk to... someone? (he's too busy staring at the Alpha's face to notice anyone else in the room) and then Derek is holding onto his body whilst another (Isaac maybe? Or Boyd?) reach up and break the cuffs around his wrists.

Stiles' arms fall immediately; complete dead-weight from holding his weight for... however long he's been there. Derek catches him with ease; twisting his body to carry him bridal-style as Stiles buries his face into the man's neck, breathing in his scent. They're walking towards the exit when Derek stops and nudges his nose into Stiles' greasy hair.

"Don't look" he whispers "close your eyes and don't look"

He presses his face further into his skin, shutting his eyes as he nods. He lets his numb fingers tangle into Derek's t-shirt, feeling his heart beat because Derek is _alive_. They're walking again and Stiles knows the instant they exit whatever building they're in because he's hit by a blast a freezing cold wind. Derek picks up the speed and then they're climbing into a large van and he's getting settled in Derek's lap when a blanket comes to cover his entire body. He tries not to move, not wanting to upset the cuts, bruises and various aches in his muscles. He lets out a yawn and there's a kiss being pressed to his forehead, "Get some sleep, I'll be here when you wake" Derek mutters as the car engine roars to life.

* * *

Stiles must have fallen asleep because when he comes round, he's being carried again. He pulls his head back and glances around with blurry eyes. It's night time, the streetlights shining obnoxiously bright; it's drizzling but the blanket wrapped around him is protecting him from the chill that rain brings. He recognises the area as the parking lot to Deaton's Animal Clinic; the door is opening before they're anywhere near it and Deaton is waiting for them, concern painted on his usually impassive face.

Derek walks in with only a nod of his head, he knows exactly where he's going as he heads to the back room and sets Stiles down on the examinations table. He goes to move away but the teen lets out a noise close to a whine and Derek steps back over so that Stiles can rest his forehead against the solid wall that is his chest.

"Stiles," Deaton says as he enters; the rest of the pack in tow. "Can I take off the blanket?"

He nods slightly but doesn't shift at all to help the process as the warm material is peeled away from his body. He hears someone gasp and Derek growls lowly. Stiles slowly lifts his head once again to glance down at his body; his wrists are sore, covered in blisters and bleeding steadily where the metal had cut into the skin. He doesn't even want to think of how his face and body actually look because he can _feel_ the dried blood covering his face, every black and blue bruise, the electricity burns as well as the claw marks in a circle around his torso from one of the twins. Stiles just sighs heavily and returns his head to the comfort provided by Derek.

Nobody really speaks as Deaton works; first cleaning his wrists and then wrapping them in a soft bandage. Next comes his face, he cleans away the dried blood with delicate touches before he turns his attention to the claw marks – wiping them with a antiseptic liquid but saying they don't require covering. The burns come last and as he's examining them, he hesitates with his fingers just above a particularly painful mark between his shoulder blades.

"Stiles..." he says gently, "what caused these burns?"

He shudders at the memory, his body staring to shake; his hands shoot out and grip the hem of Derek's t-shirt to bring him closer.

"I'm sorry, but I need you to answer" Deaton sounds truly apologetic and Derek's fingers are in his hair.

"E-E... Electric" he manages and he can feel the Alpha wince as the hand in his hair stills.

"Thank you" Deaton replies as he goes about treating the many, many wounds.

When he finishes; Deaton tells Stiles to get lots of rest and he'll be around daily to check on him and change the dressings. Stiles nods before finally turning to the crowd of people who have huddled into the room and he smiles softly; his pack are there, as well as Peter and Chris Argent. He pulls the blanket around his shoulders again; holding the corners in his clenched hands to stop it falling as he slides off the table to his feet. He manages to stand for a few moments without wobbling but then he takes a few steps and his legs buckle under his weight and he falls forward – to be caught by Scott. Without a word, he hugs his best friend with one arms and pulls Isaac in with his other; soon the others are all piling forward to touch some part of him, he's strangely reminded of the first couple of days when this all started and they were scenting him.

His chest is heaving and suddenly, a sob breaks though his lips. He hadn't even realised he was crying until now when the tears are streaming down his face and he's letting out heartbreaking noises that make him feel sick. His pack draw closer and Stiles can hear a few of them crying as well (which does make him feel remotely better).

Once he's cried himself completely out, he pulls away and turns to wrap himself around Derek who holds him tight and kisses his head.

"They-They told me you were dead" Stiles sniffs. "I was there. And they told me you were dead and I spent all my time there thinking that you were dead and–" his words fail him again and he's shaking his head in Derek's neck.

Derek pulls back and once again takes Stiles' face in one hand – the other around the small of his back; holding him up – handling him delicately as if he's made of glass. He pushes their foreheads together "I'm right here," he says quietly "and I am so, so sorry you had to go through that but I won't let you get hurt again, I promise."

Stiles smiles "Damn, what happened to you throwing me against walls?" he hears one of the pack groan (probably Scott). "Can exceptions be made?"

"Anything you want" he says, leaning down to touch their lips together lightly in the sweetest kiss. "Let's get you home"

Stiles starts to nod when his entire body freezes and he feels the familiar breathless panic rise up "What... What about my Dad?" he asks frantically "I've been missing, what does he thinks going on?"

"Shh" Derek soothes him "We told him. As soon as we realised you'd been taken. He knows everything"

"He didn't shoot you?" Stiles raises an eyebrow.

"Turns out, that he and my Mom have been talking" Scott grimaces "but he told Derek to get you back alive or he'd talk to Chris about some special bullets"

Stiles nods slowly and kisses Derek again briefly.

* * *

They get Stiles back to his house and Derek is the only one that stays and walks him slowly up towards the door. It opens before they're halfway there and The Sheriff is bringing him into a tight hug before he can ever comprehend what's happening.

"Oh, Genim" he says, his voice thick like he's been crying "I love you son, don't do that to me again. You hear me?"

Stiles can't stop the laugh that bubbles up "I love you too, Dad" he says, one hand still clasped in Derek's while the other holds his Dad close.

They eventually get into the house and Derek takes Stiles up to bed, after the teen promises to talk to his Dad properly as soon as he's slept. He lets the older man remove his blood stained jeans and he settles him in bed before stripping off himself and climbing under the covers and letting Stiles curl into his side.

"Thank you" Stiles whispers.

Derek's body goes rigid before he forces himself to relax again. He doesn't reply for a long time; instead he just runs his fingers up and down Stiles' spine until he finally turns onto his side to look straight into the boys' eyes.

"Stiles." He says quietly.

"Derek?" he replies

"I-I think... I love you" he mutters

"Me too" he grins and then his eyebrows furrow "I mean, I love _you_, I don't love me... I said 'me too', which might have implied I love me too but I don't, I just love you."

"Oh my god, shut up" Derek sighs, capturing his lips.


	23. Chapter 23

Waking up felt like Stiles was floating. He'd never before been so grateful to own a bed, Stiles had really begun to appreciate the little things like life since being kidnapped. The birds were tweeting away outside, the sun was streaming through his bedroom window and the smell of bacon cooking fills his nose.

He groans and turns into the heat of Derek's chest, his arm tightening over the solid stomach. He feels fingers go into his hair and a chuckle drift into his ears.

"G'Morning" he mumbles, opening his eyes and looking up at the Alpha

"Hey" he replies, his voice strained and raw.

"Do I smell bacon?" he asks, fingers moving up Derek's chest to his face where he rubs the stubble.

"Mm, your Dad is cooking breakfast" he says, looking up at the ceiling pointedly.

Stiles decides to ignore the weird behaviour, instead he sits up and stretches his arms up; the ache in his muscles is enough to make a whimper slip through his lips before letting his limbs fall back to the bed with a dull _thud_. He climbs out of bed and begins his search for a shirt, when he finally finds one of Derek's oversized shirts; he gives a little cheer and turns to the other man.

Derek's jaw is tight, and Stiles can practically hear his teeth grinding together, he's sat up against the headboard, his eyes staring and his hands (which are curled into fists) in his lap. Stiles sighs deeply.

"Will you stop being so bloody grumpy?" Stiles frowns, and he moves to look at his body in the mirror. He's surprised by how bad he looks. The claw marks are scabbed over but he's still got bruises covering nearly every inch of him; a particularly bad one on his jaw and a black eye. The burns are as sore and painful as they feel, protesting every time he shifts the skin around them and his wrists are covered so he can't examine them but he knows how bad they look.

Derek doesn't reply, instead he just climbs out of the bed and he starts to dress and Stiles rolls his eyes before pulling on the shirt and locating a pair of sweats. He tells Derek that he'll meet him downstairs in a moment and he leaves the room; moving slowly and holding onto the walls for balance.

He finds his Dad in the kitchen, frying bacon and sausages in the same pan while scrambled eggs are cooking in another. Stiles' Dad pulls him into a hug the moment he enters the kitchen; he can't help but hold the man tightly and let the familiar embrace calm his beating heart.

They pull apart when the bacon begins to burn and Stiles takes a seat at the table, watching in amusement as his Dad flails around trying to flip the bacon as well as stir the eggs.

"How do you feel?" he asks, glancing over his shoulder at his son.

"I've been better but this is the best I've felt in... actually, how long _was_ I gone?" he questions, fiddling with the edges of the bandage on his wrist.

His Dad's shoulders go rigid and his freezes up "Four days" he grits out, clearly not pleased with that fact.

"I'm sorry" Stiles says "I don't mean to make you worry. I'm sorry for lying to you all the time as well, but it wasn't my secret to tell, it was Scott's and Derek's."

His Dad turns to him with a soft smile "Stiles, only you could apologise for being kidnapped by Werewolves"

Stiles shrugs and Derek enters the room, standing awkwardly in the doorway like he's reverted back to his creepy-stalker ways. He watches as Stiles plays with the material at his wrists until the Sheriff dishes up three plates of food and sets them on the table; the teen digs in immediately, making obscene noises like he's never actually eaten before but Derek remains in the doorway, looking frustrated and sad.

"Will you sit down?" Stiles snaps through a mouthful of eggs "your food is going cold"

Derek does so silently, choosing to sit as far away from Stiles as possible and he slowly cuts his food into manageable bites before chewing.

"Oh my god," the teen moans "I'm not approving of the nutritional value of this meal but this is so good"

His Dad just laughs and pushes another sausage from his plate onto his son's, earning a huge grin in response. "Stiles," he says carefully "don't answer if you don't want to but... what _happened_ to you there?"

He swallows hard and his hands still before he takes a deep breath, not lifting his eyes from the plate "They tortured me," he replies quietly, "they wanted information on the pack and I wouldn't give it to them. Deucalion – their leader – said not to hit me so they used a cattle rod, that's what the burns are... I was hung from the ceiling for four days."

His Dad frowns but takes Stiles' hand regardless but Derek's entire body is shaking like he's cold (except he's clearly not because he's like a Bazillion degrees), they continue their breakfast in silence and Stiles heads back upstairs with a solemn look. He doesn't close his door behind him because he knows that Derek is probably right behind him, he sits down in his desk chair and opens his laptop. He hears the Alpha enter and sit on the bed silently, his eyes boring into the back of Stiles' head.

Stiles checks his Facebook and his E-mail, replying to the various messages he'd received while he'd been 'away'. But the feeling of Derek's stare was beginning to irritate him and it wasn't until he had finishes what he was doing that he turns and folds his arms across his chest, levelling the Alpha with an unimpressed look.

"What's wrong with you?" he demands.

"Nothing" he mumbles back, not meeting his eyes.

"Bullshit, you've been weird since we woke up; you're avoiding me, not talking and you're glaring more than usual. There's obviously something wrong, so man up and tell me!" he's getting more annoyed by the second and he's sure that Derek can smell it.

He growls, his red eyes shooting up "Fine. I'm angry." He yells, standing up to pace the room, "I'm angry because everyone I love seems to be taken away from me and it's always my fault!"

"You're fault?" Stiles huffs "you're blaming me getting kidnapped, on yourself?"

"If I hadn't ran after her, if I hadn't left you then none of this would have happened." He kicks a shirt that was on the floor across the room.

Stiles scoffs "Well, can you give up this whole guilt-trip thing you're putting yourself through? It's annoying me."

"Stiles, this isn't a guilt-trip" he snarls, fangs coming out.

He gets to his feet, angry radiating off of him and he stalks up to the other and pokes him in the chest. "What?" he yells, "do you want me to blame you? Then fine! Yes, I wouldn't have been taken if you'd kept your fucking promise and not gone after them on your own! You promised me that you wouldn't and yet you did and I got taken because of it. I went through _hell_ and you're _still_ only thinking about yourself. So, you know what, get the fuck out and come back then you decide to get over yourself and act like the boyfriend you're supposed to be!"

He turns and walks from the room, slamming his bedroom door behind him. His Father is waiting at the bottom of the stairs with a concerned expression, he tries to give him a smile but he's sure it turns out as more of a grimace as he goes to the sofa and sits down – picking up the remote and be begins to flick through the channels aimlessly.

He'd just finished watching an episode of Two and a Half Men when Scott slides into the seat beside him, Allison by his side. They don't speak, instead Stiles just cuddles into his best friend's side; because who doesn't want to cuddle when they've argued with their boyfriend.

Allison reaches over to hold his hand while she texts with the other. Halfway through an episode of Scrubs, there's a knock at the door and his Dad opens it; standing aside to allow Erica, Isaac and Boyd to enter the house. They all give muttered greetings as they squeeze on; Isaac takes Stiles' other side while Boyd sits next to him and Erica sits in his lap; running her hands through his hair as they sit quietly. Jackson, Lydia and Danny let themselves in a few minutes later and they somehow manage to fit onto the overcrowded couch and Stiles sighs.

When Stiles first got involved with a Werewolf pack; it kind of came without saying that he'd probably be in constant danger, he'd need a lot of explaining done to him because he didn't have their enhanced senses and although annoying, he accepted all their weird wolf-habits (like the growling, the roaring and the fact they rip each other apart with their teeth and then act like best friends five minutes later) because that's what a good friend does.

But Stiles had officially drawn the line at cuddling. Because nine people huddling together in a big pile on a sofa, bed or even the floor was just plain weird. And that was exactly how Stiles found himself in the middle of the sofa, surrounded by the pack as they watched Disney films... he let out a sigh because three weeks ago, he would not have ever found himself in this situation.

Stiles sighs again "You guys rock" he mumbles and then he smiles as Isaac purrs (yes, he fucking _purred_) into his ear while his nosed Stiles' cheek affectionately.

"Shut up," Lydia hisses "I love this part"

They all watch the TV as Simba and Nala reunite. He can't help but smile because Lydia and Scott are giving the same contented look; he's got Erica's hand in his hair while Allison has their fingers threaded together.

But he can't help but miss his other half because yeah, Derek had been a complete and utter asshole when Stiles needed him to just cuddle up and tell him that everything would be okay but instead he'd fucked off. He's not going to give in – he meant what he said – they'll only talk again when Derek gets over his ridiculous habit he has where he finds himself at fault for everything. But for now, he's content to lay with his pack, watching shitty TV (not that he thought the Lion King was shit because that film rocked the Disney world) and chewing on butter-flavoured microwave popcorn that his Dad had brought in earlier.


	24. Chapter 24

Scott and Isaac decide to stay the night after a full day of cuddling and ordering pizza for dinner. It was an unspoken agreement when they followed him upstairs, stripped down to their boxers and squeezed into bed either side of him.

They all lay in the darkness, shoulder-to-shoulder a soft breeze blows in through the open window. Stiles huffs a sigh and Isaac flips onto his side to face him.

"Want to talk about it?" he asks gently.

Stiles smirks into the darkness before it falls to a frown "Did I do the wrong thing? Did I even have the _right_ to tell him to get out?"

Scott tuts, "Dude, if anyone has the right to tell Derek to stop being a bag of dicks, it's you. Let him wallow in his pity on his own, meanwhile, we're going to be here to make you feel better because we love you."

Stiles puts a hand over his heart "Oh Scott, you sure know how to make a guy blush"

Isaac snorts while Scott just punches him in the arm, causing it to go dead. "Seriously though," Isaac mutters "from what you told us, he's being typical Derek. All you've done is stand up for yourself"

"Just get some sleep, he'll come round eventually and if he doesn't then he doesn't deserve my best friend" Scott says, sounding oddly proud.

"Thanks guys" a smile stretches at the edges of his lips.

Stiles returns to school the next day, (after a lengthy discussion with his Dad about how he wants to return to normality – a conversation which incidentally made him _late_ for school) under the cover story that he'd been ill for a couple of days. He'd had to wear a long-sleeved shirt as well as his hoodie to cover his bandaged wrists but unfortunately not much could be done for the large bruises on his face.

His Dad drove him, wanting to ensure that Stiles got there safely (and his Jeep had been parked at school for the last 5 days), Scott met him on the steps outside school, despite it being halfway through second period and greeted him with a careful hug.

They decide that English could wait and they decide to wander aimlessly around school until the bell for third period rings and they both sigh and start in that direction. They get about halfway there when Greenburg walks up behind them and slaps Stiles on the back.

"Stilinski! Good to have out bench-warmer back!" he yells

A whimper slips past Stiles' lips and he crumples sideways into Scott who catches him with ease.

"Whoa, what the fuck happened to you fa –" Before Greenburg can even finish his question, Jackson is seizing the front of his shirt and slamming him into the closest set of lockers; lifting his feet from the floor.

"Don't touch him," Jackson growls "Ever, you hear me? Ever."

Stiles rights himself, but Scott keeps an arm over his shoulders just in case. "It's okay, Jackson" he mumbles, "he didn't mean to"

Jackson levels him with another glare before releasing his shirt and pushing him away. He frowns at Stiles in a way that clearly says 'what-the-fuck-are-you-doing-here?'.

"I was bored at home" he says, shrugging before continuing down the corridor and entering his class.

He sits through most of third period doodling on his notebook and ignoring the whispers and stares of his peers. He wants to say something, he wants to tell them to fuck off and get on with their lives because he's just _so_ done right now. His boyfriend is still sulking, his friends keep looking at him like he's going to burst into tears and everyone is looking at him like he's sitting in his birthday suit (which, he clearly is not).

Stiles frowns and pulls out his phone, surprised when it says he has three messages.

Have a good day at school, call me if you want to go home. I will pick you up.  
[From:/ Dad]

Stiles smiles and types a quick reply saying he's fine and no need to worry. Then he moves onto the next text.

Gossip tells me ur in sch, can I yell at girls talking about u? X  
[From:/ Lydia]

He smothers a laugh with his hand and tells her that, yes, she can yell at whoever she pleases. He opens his third message and stares at it for a while, then he glances around the room before staring at the screen for a while longer. Yep, that text is defiantly there.

I'm sorry. Can I come round?x  
[From:/ Derek]

He blinks a couple more times before pressing reply.

[To:/ Derek]  
I'm at school, meet me later?x

Okay, how are you?x  
[From:/ Derek]

This time, Stiles can't stop the snort (because when has Derek ever asked about someone else's wellbeing) but he quickly looks down because Scott is watching him like he's about to have a mental breakdown and assume the foetal position.

[To:/ Derek]  
Fine, the pack think I'm about to have a breakdown.x

Are you?x  
[From:/ Derek]

[To:/ Derek]  
No, I'm fine. Bored but fine.x

Do you want me to come pick you up now? I can take you out for curly fries?x  
[From:/ Derek]

Stiles gapes at his cell for a few moments, did Derek just ask him on an apology date? Holy crap, maybe yelling at him _does_ work. Stiles glances around the room; only to be met by the stares of his classmates.

"Guys," he whispers lowly, turning back to his book "Derek's going to pick me up in a second, so don't worry about me, okay?" He looks up again to see Scott nod at him with a faint smile and Isaac just gives him a thumbs up.

[To:/ Derek]  
Yeah, I'll wait outside school.x

Already here.x  
[From:/ Derek]

Stiles sighs before putting his hand up; his teacher plods her way over, waddling in the way fat people do and she stops before him, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Hey, I need to leave" he says "I have... to be somewhere"

"Mr. Stilinski, I can't let you leave without a letter from your parent" she drawls.

"I don't have a letter," he grits, his irritation levels rising quickly.

"Well, you'll have to sit and wait like everyone else manages to do" she sneers.

"No. I really need to leave" his hands clench into fists.

"We just established you do not have a letter so unless you someone waiting for you in the Office, then you will stay exactly where you are." Her voice rises slightly.

"Jesus, I have someone here" he throws his hands in the air.

There's a knock at the door and Stiles and his teacher (as well as everyone else in the room) turns; many jaws in the room drop and his teacher seems completely lost for words, which Stiles completely understands because Derek Hale is leaning against the door frame with his hands in his pockets, wearing a new leather jacket and grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"You ready, Stiles?" he asks smoothly, not taking his eyes off the teen.

"Oh my god, yes." He replies, pushing his books into a pile and gathering his pens. Derek walks into the room and reaches down to pick up his backpack and hold it open while Stiles dumps various things into it. When he's finished, Derek zips it up and slings it over his shoulder before taking Stiles hand and leading him to the door but he turns at the last second.

"Isaac, I won't be driving you home today" he says to the boy in the corner who is trying not start laughing at the furious look on their teachers face.

"Okay" he nods, grinning "have fun and please don't taint the Camaro."

Stiles blushes and decides to act before Derek can say something stupid that Stiles will never, ever be able to live down for the rest of his life. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the keys and throws them over to Isaac. "Take my Jeep," he smiles and then starts to pull Derek towards the door.

"Wait, right there, Mr Stilinski" his teacher yells loudly, "I can't allow you to leave, so sit back down. Right now."

"No" he replies.

"NOW!" she shrieks and the three wolves in the room flinch at the volume.

"No," he repeats, "I've had a really shitty week, and sitting in your class is making me want to kill myself. So, I'm going to leave and he's going to take me out for apology food"

Stiles smiles smugly and Derek chuckles before planting a kiss to his temple, "Apology food?" he asks quietly and Stiles turns to him, completely dismissing the fuming teacher (if his life were a cartoon, she'd have smoke coming out her ears).

"Yeah, just because you saved me from a boring class, it doesn't mean you're off the hook," he frowns "I'm still annoyed at you."

"Oh," his face falls and he sighs "I suppose I do deserve that"

Stiles nods and starts walking towards the door with him again.

"MR. STILINSKI!" she shouts again.

"I know my own name" he calls back, waving a dismissive hand as they exit the room.

"I WILL BE CALLING HOME ABOUT THIS!"

"Okay, ask for my Dad!" he smirks.

Derek takes him to the diner where they first went out to eat; insisting that Stiles sit beside him in the booth so he can wrap an arm around his shoulders. A waitress (thankfully, not the one who flirted shamelessly with Derek last time) had already brought over Stiles' order of curly fries and a chocolate milkshake.

"I'm sorry" Derek says quietly.

Stiles' mouth drops open, showing the Alpha his half-chewed food. "Wha-?"

"I said I'm sorry" he repeats through gritted teeth.

He swallows hard "Who are you and what have you done with Derek Hale?"

Derek frowns "This isn't funny. I'm trying to have a serious conversation with you here"

"Okay, fine. Continue"

"I'm sorry for breaking my promise and then for treating you like that," his fingers play with a loose thread of his jeans as his eyes look anywhere that _isn't_ Stiles, "and I hope you can forgive me because I kind of like you"

"Holy crap" Stiles breathes "you actually just used words... you used words like a regular person"

"Aren't you the one who insisted on us talking about everything?" he smirks, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, and you have brought me apology food and said sorry so would you just fucking kiss me already!?" he half-yells.

Derek grins and then leans over to lock their lips. Stiles shifts closer and tilts his head for a better angle before sliding his tongue along Derek's bottom lip and the Alpha opens his mouth for him; allowing their tongues to tangle together lazily.

When they finally break apart for air, they put their foreheads together and Stiles smiles like a love-struck teenage. Their hands tangle together underneath the table and he hears Derek breathe in heavily through his nose.

"You smell like Pack" he says, sounding content.

"Mm, everyone came round after our fight and we had a puppy-pile on the sofa," he replies quietly, not wanting to break their moment by yelling.

"Good, you _should_ smell like Pack" Derek nods, closing his eyes and sniffing again, "me and Pack"

"Y'know, if anyone else overheard this conversation, they'd be very concerned about our mental wellbeing" he doesn't giggle – he doesn't – except, he does.

"Finish your food" Derek growls "then we can 'discuss' some more"

Stiles pulls away and quickly starts stuffing handfuls of curly fries into his mouth at an alarming rate.


	25. Epilogue

**So, this is it.  
The story is complete. How weird is that?  
I want to take a moment to thank EVERYONE for reading, commenting, following and favouriting. It means so much that you've taken an interest in my writing.  
I've already started thinking up new stories and my brain is already writing the first chapter to one! So, hopefully, I should have something new up soon.  
Thank you so much (again) for reading and I love you all!**

* * *

**One month later.**

To say that Stiles was in a good mood would be understatement of the year. He was freaking _glowing_.

A certain Alpha Werewolf had woken him that morning with little kisses to the back of his neck and he'd then proceeded to lazily suck Stiles off; because, it's Derek and if Derek wants to blow Stiles at seven o'clock in the morning then who the hell is he to disagree?

They'd gone out to breakfast and Derek watched as the teen ate his weight in waffles and that was how Stiles found himself now; in the middle of the school parking lot, leant against the hood of the Camaro as Derek leaned over him, their tongues caught in what the teen was now calling 'epic-public-makeout-session-number-32'.

"Derek – I need – to go to –class" Stiles says between kisses but he makes no effort to move away as the Alpha trails his lips down to his neck and starts to suck and bite at the skin. "_Hoooly_ shit."

Derek chuckles and captures his lips again. "You don't have to go to class, you could get back in my car" he grins wickedly "I just brought a new apartment and it has a bed, which doesn't smell like you yet... so..."

Stiles slaps his arm, "Dammit, don't tempt me. My attendance is already too low" Derek just continues to grin and Stiles sighs heavily "Later?"

Derek rolls his eyes and kisses him once more before standing up straight and pulling Stiles up as well, "You're lucky your Dad's the Sheriff or you wouldn't have a choice about getting back in that car." He grumbles.

"Only because you're scared of my Dad," Stiles smirks, clearly amused by this fact.

"He got bullets off Chris. Bullets to kill me. I'm pretty sure I'm allowed to be scared of him," Derek says, scowling at the teen.

He reaches up and puts his arms around Derek's neck, "It's okay, I won't let my Dad shoot the Big Bad Wolf," he mutters "unless you're acting like an asshole. Then he can shoot you."

"Thanks" he deadpans

"It's okay, you should just be glad that I love you" Stiles laughs and pulls the older man down into a kiss.

"Okay, Loverboy" Erica snaps, "Say goodbye."

Stiles steps away and does as she says (because seriously, Erica is _scary_) and then they walk into school together. They stop at Stiles' locker to collect his books when Erica freezes up and leans over to him.

"You smell... _different_" she summarizes, looking uncomfortable as she shifts from foot-to-foot.

"How so?" he asks, slamming his locker closed and zipping up his backpack.

She bites her lip and fights back a laugh "It doesn't matter" she says before disappearing down the corridor; cackling as she goes.

Stiles shakes his head, because even for Erica; that was weird. He doesn't dwell on it as he heads to Chemistry, taking his seat next to Scott and in front of Isaac and Jackson.

The second he sits, Scott is in his space; breathing heavily at his neck.

"Oh my god!" he flails, nearly falling from his seat "personal boundaries, dude!"

"You smell weird" He frowns and Stiles has to lean backwards when he leans in for another sniff.

Leaning backwards, however, seems to be a mistake because both Jackson and Isaac sit forwards and breathe in his scent. Isaac covers his mouth with his hand and averts his eyes because apparently; looking at Stiles is now a very difficult thing to do while Jackson moves away and starts to choke loudly, coughing and spluttering as he waves his hand in front of his face.

"Wha-?" Stiles starts.

"Dude, what the hell?" Jackson yells, drawing the attention of the class. "What have you and Derek been doing this morning to make you smell like... _that_?"

"I don't get–"

"You smell weird," Scott repeats, his nose wrinkled up in distaste.

"I SMELL JUST FINE!" Stiles shouts, distress pouring out of him.

"Dude," Jackson deadpans, "You smell like sex"

"Oh." He mutters and then Stiles' face breaks into a grin and he winks at his best friend – who looks ready to vomit.


End file.
